


Hidden truth

by Nights_feather



Category: Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, Rockman.EXE | Mega Man Battle Network
Genre: Mix of manga & video games & anime, Mostly anime-verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-01 20:10:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 67,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20390593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nights_feather/pseuds/Nights_feather
Summary: Yuuichiro had thought no new threat would arise once Cache had been defeated, and so hoped everyone around him. However, when navis started to go maverick, they soon faced the fact it wouldn't be the case. With his greatest family secret on the line, what should have just been another crisis quickly became one of the worst they ever had to face.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I know the anime is kinda old and all, but I really loved (and I still do) the universe and the characters when I was younger and I had this story in mind for quite a while. Actually, when I say quite a while, I really mean for more than three years... Okay, maybe it's because I didn't really work on it either. The thing is, I had actually written a summary back then but I had ended up with something which was so long that I couldn't find the courage to write it properly (especially since I was like "I will write it in English because I am very good at it. Oh, I don't know this word. How do I say that? ghgjdfk" when all in all my English was awful, so I'm glad I didn't ^^). So I kinda had forgotten about that and only found the docs anew when I was transferring everything to my new computer last year. I re-read everything and was like "oh that's pretty fun, I like that" so I decided I would finally write the story even though I stopped following the original storyline at some point... And here I am! Also, I posted everything at once because it was already on FF.net and I just took forever to create an account here (so I only had four chapters left to post... When I was supposed to post here and there at the same time).
> 
> The whole story is mostly based on the anime, though I took elements from both the manga and the game I think. Indeed, even though I do have a gameboy, finding the game is hard here (I think it has never been released... maybe that's why) so poor little me struggle to re-watch some of the episodes (I mean I started with the French dubs then with French subtitles, then English ones, then no subtitles at all [damn Beast+! X( ] and now I have to re-watch some with Spanish subs! Oh, and I also watched some in Tagalog to find some translations. Netto and Rockman have the same voice actress in this one, which makes sense. Right English and French dubs where they don't even sound alike? Right? ) Hence, I will use the Japanese names, but I also almost translated everything in English because otherwise I can't read it out loud and that's how I correct myself. You may come across the English name of some characters though... Why? Because.
> 
> As you may have noticed, I'm not a native so there might still be mistakes in what I wrote. I would gladly correct them and would take any advice concerning my writing with pleasure. I have no one to correct me at home, so you guys really are the only ones I can count on for that ^^"

** SciLab, Densan City, 2041**

The only sound echoing in the room was the frenetic typing of a lone man, his screen lighting his tired face as he kept on rewriting his program again and again. Success was at reach, so close… yet so far at the same time. The program was perfect, and no flaws were left after being checked so many times; it should have worked! The man sighed, rubbing his temples in a last attempt to make his headache disappear, and went back to work. Lines of code flashed up in fade green characters on his computer before stopping after one indicating an error as the simulation of the program failed to execute.

_ ‘You've spent your night working on that damn program again, haven't you?’ _ Standing in the corner of the door, a blond man took a sip of coffee. _ ‘You should take a break, Yuu. Your wife needs you more than this computer.’ _

_ ‘I can't…’ _he mumbled without taking his eyes off the screen.

He was desperate, anyone would have been able to tell it. The project had become a haven to escape the tragedy currently tearing his family apart, or so thought his friend. However, the aforesaid family needed him, and he needed them too.

_ ‘I'll take you home. You need to rest.’ _ With those words, the man tried to make his friend and coworker turn off from the screen. _ ‘Come on, it's not like finishing it will be of any help!’ _

_ ‘It's the only way, Mikhail…’ _ Finally, the blond man got a look from his friend; in his eyes was shining all the fear a father could have at the thought of losing a child. _ ‘It's the only thing which can save him.’ _

** Nine years later**

The tab displaying the article about another cybercrime stopped thanks to Densan's net saviors closed as a netnavi asked his operator if he wanted it to pursue further research on the ones who deleted the outlaw. The man waved his hand at the mindless program to signify his refusal, for that was all his navi was: a mere navigator in which he had refused to install any glint of a personality, neither in its appearance or in his artificial intelligence. Not that it wasn't tempting to have a rather human‑like being to talk with, but the last he had formed a close bond with he had also seen his demise—even if it was prior to the upgrades which gave navi complex personalities. 

_ ‘Navi, send an email to Yuuichiro Hikari.’ _ Immediately, the navi stood ready to write the message. _ ‘Ask him if he really wants me to bring him the project in a week or if I should wait until the problem of those phantom navis is solved.’ _

Not even ten minutes after the email was sent, his netnavi informed him that he had received an answer. 

_ ‘Read it, please’ _

_ ‘Good evening as well, Mikhail,’ _ the netnavi started with a robotic tone. _ ‘For the project, I think it would be preferable to wait, but only if it can be kept safe. In your last report, you mentioned it was becoming hard to hide it from your co _ ‑ _ workers, so I leave the decision to you. The room is ready, although I still hesitate to let Meijin Eguchi on the secret. Of any scientists here, I suspect him the most of being able to discover what we are doing. Moreover, I would be more confident with someone else helping to hide it. Respectfully, Yuuichiro.’ _

The project was their ultimate work together, and neither of them wanted it to fail. Even though their emails were sent through a well‑protected channel, encrypted at a military level, and automatically deleted after a short time, they refused themselves to ever mention what the famous project was. They knew how much it would cost them if they were caught, how people would only think of them as mad scientists without even considering why they did it, for the discovery of that project would be bound to reveal how they had played god ten years ago. Mikhail knew the project was viable, if weak for now, and that only thing was forbidden by the law. In fact, they had artificially created life and, even if it was for now mindless and unable to awake, judges wouldn't look further than that. They hadn't tried to understand when his team had created Forte, blaming his ultimate program to explain his actions instead of the fact he was basically a child in a world he was too advanced for, so if they ever came to know Yuuichiro and he had created something—someone—even more powerful… He didn't dare imagining what their reactions would be. He sighed: as long as his navi frame covered his real programming, he should be safe. Nevertheless, they had almost been discovered multiple times in the past two years and he knew it was only a question of time before the netpolice stopped believing his friend's lies. A thought came to his mind before vanishing quickly: Yuuichiro's son would not find out about this before it was time, his father had made sure he would be the last one able to find out.

Not even using his netnavi this time, Mikhail typed the email himself: he would wait two weeks, but wouldn't be able to afford more. If Yuuichiro wished to explain things to this Meijin, he'd better do it in the meantime. However, he hoped this scientist he had barely seen twice in his life was trustworthy. Of course, he knew his friend would not think about revealing the secret project which was the work of his life to someone he wasn't sure of the loyalty, but, still, Mikhail was wary; then again, it wasn't his decision to make. He pressed enter before closing the access to the communication channel—he had written he would reopen it the next day so no email would be lost—and stood up to go to a room to which only him had access: the project was there, hidden behind old boxes and sheets as if it was a vulgar failure which had yet to be discarded. However, it was no failure; it was the impossible made possible. 

In his office at SciLab, Yuuichiro finished reading the email with a smile: everything was as it should be, and not even the chain of unfortunate events which had kept on occurring for the past two years would be enough to let him doubt of his success. Of course, he would still wait before revealing what he had been working on. At least one full year of stimulation would be necessary to make it perfectly ready to be used, and even then a great work would be needed to get used to it. He would have to make the reveal progressive, and should probably take one or two months before even approaching the subject, but he still had almost two years to think of it. 

A navi appeared on his shoulder, informing him that his help was requested in one of the labs. It was unusual for him to do so, as it was usually because he thought the situation would soon become an emergency. The scientist quickly closed the communication channel, causing the deletion of the email, before joining his coworkers to see what kind of problem they would have to face this time, praying this one wasn't more or less directly caused by either Netto or Rockman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, it's set in the future instead of the early 2000. It's just that... It made more sense.  
I mean, I estimated it would be more realistic to set it in twenty years because of the evolution of technology-yet, I still didn't want it to be set too far in the future either. It also means that there will be some changes to the canon other than those directly related to the plot (and the ones I made because I thought the canon events just didn't work well with more realistic settings, like the fact that Yaito's house doesn't have all those weird slides and stuff leading to private jets and so on, but all of them didn't actually interfere with the plot).
> 
> And that's all for my blah-blah, though I will add notes to some chapters :)


	2. Premises of a war

After all the events which had happened for the past two years, a deserved peace was eventually back in Densan. For the first time in too long, more than five months had passed without any worldwide threat on their shoulders. Of course, both Netto and Rockman should have been happy—and they were! However, life felt… too calm. In fact, they were not used to have a daily routine like everyone else anymore. Waking up, going to school, doing Netto's homework, taking care of the rare cybercrimes which still happened when nobody else could… It was all so dull. They needed something exciting! 

Closing the tab displaying the homework he could not bring himself to do, Netto let the now useless synchro chip slip through his fingers. With a sharp yet almost inaudible sound, the cartridge fell on the desk as the child sighed. He had turned thirteen three months ago, and it only made him feel like if his life had been boring like this forever.

_ ‘Netto, you still have virus _ ‑ _ busting homework,’ _Rockman said, although he had taken several minutes before even realising his operator had stopped working since himself wasn't paying attention either.

_ ‘I don't even get how they can give us homework… Virus-__busting is not about paper exams!’ _ —Netto reluctantly reopened the tab while saying so— _ ‘On top of that, it's not like if we didn't know that already!’ _

This, Rockman couldn't deny. Almost everyone in their class knew the basis of virus-busting, but they still had to take it. The fact that they had fought again evil organizations willing to kill them both at some point definitely added to the boredness of the class… Actually, since Meiru herself thought it was useless, Netto would probably be fine for not returning his homework in time, but you never know. Or he might not be. Since his teacher had understood he was the son of one of the most recognized Japanese scientist in matter of cybersciences, he had been expecting a lot from him and had not been disappointed by his skills: such an attitude would not be appreciated. Then again, it was definitely too time consuming for what it was and they could prove everyone they knew their way around net battles with ease.

In the silence of the room, the alarm of the PET rang before Rockman picked it up, not expecting anything more than a cybercrime, only to be surprised by Meijin's face.

_ ‘Netto, Rockman, we need you to come to Scilab as soon as possible.’ _

_ ‘Why, mister Meijin?’ _ Netto asked, excited by the potential action.

_ ‘No need to be so formal.’ _ Meijin seemed to look at another screen, or at someone, before giving them a quick explanation. _ ‘Anyway, the last cases of cybercrimes seems to be linked together. We think something might be happening.’ _

Little did they know that, merely a week later, they would end up investigating about missing navis turned into criminals in the undernet instead of spacing out in class. The work was stressful since, for what they knew, any kind of damage done to Rockman's frame could lead to his infection by what Meijin had started to call the maverick virus, but it was more than necessary. In the real world, Netto was more focused than on any other missions he and Enzan had shared in the past few months—which weren't abundant—and the dual haired teenager knew better than teasing him at the time. So far, their navis had encountered nothing more than regular viruses, but they knew it would probably not stay this way. With professor Hikari gone who knew where for the past days, the analysis of the data obtained by the netpolice had been slowed down. Actually, everyone knew where he was—he had gone to visit the doctor Cossak, and old friend of his—but nobody could figure out why he had left in such a hurry when a new kind of virus made to infect netnavis was spreading through the net.

While scanning some of the newly obtained data, Meijin couldn't stop thinking of the strange conversations he had had with the missing scientist. He knew he was hiding something, though all the hints he had caught had led him nowhere. It was like a treasure hunt, except that the young scientist wasn't sure he truly wanted to discover what the treasure was… Somehow, it felt like the professor wanted him to find out but couldn't bring himself to tell him. The only clear thing he had voiced was that, whatever he discovered, he couldn't let anyone else know about it. It had made him curious, and it probably was what professor Hikari had aimed for, but the more he thought about it, the more… creepy it was. 

For the time being, Meijin was sure of three things: Netto had a twin who seemed to be dead, his father used to work on a way to create the perfect navi using human DNA, and Rockman was probably the closest thing he had ever programmed to that ideal navi. Logic wanted him to conclude that professor Hikari would never have used the DNA of one of his own sons to program Rockman as it would have led him to jail without a doubt, but then again he wasn't sure of what was logical for the professor; after all, he had let his son risk his life multiple times. Of course, Meijin knew Netto would have probably been in danger anyway: his family, Rockman's potential, and his inner talent to get in trouble would probably have made this unavoidable. Still, the thought of Rockman being Netto's digital copy made him sick. Even if the navi shared a striking resemblance with his operator, it was incredibly disturbing to think professor Hikari, whom he truly respected, had done something like this. Worse was the thought that the twins might have looked truly alike, or even were identical twins, and that Rockman was the copy of the deceased one. However, something simply didn't make sense. Either Netto's twin had died before his brother could even remember him, or the child had forbidden himself to ever mention his existence; in both cases, it felt wrong and Meijin would have to confront the other scientist with it once he came back.

_ ‘Rockman! Plug out!’ _

Or he might be confronted to the facts himself before.

Immediately, both Rockman and Blues were placed separately in quarantine. Meijin quickly catched up on the situation, learning that the navis had been attacked by infected ones while he was lost in his thoughts. If Blues was relatively unharmed, Rockman had suffer more damages by interposing between the infected navi and his friend. With the absence of professor Hikari, Meijin was the one in charge of the two navis and, trying to ignore the disturbing thoughts which refused to leave him, decided to fix their frames first. If they had been infected, trying to get rid of the virus while they were damaged would make them risk deletion and it was something which had to be avoided by all costs. 

An hour later, Blues's frame had been fixed and Meijin meticulously examined his code to detect the virus which might have been hiding between the lines since he couldn't exactly know what he was looking for. Almost two hours and twice as many coffee later, Meijin was glad to tell Enzan his navi was in perfect shape. Indeed, for all the time the repairs had lasted, the two young operators had refused to leave their navis' sides although all the other scientists had left the room used for the aforesaid repairs. Almost half an hour after Blues was left out of quarantine, the computer indicated Rockman's frame had been fixed with a ticking noise. With a sigh, Meijin prepared himself for the look he would have to take to the blue navi's program. Look he hoped would not reveal that Rockman was what he was starting to think he probably was… As he pressed enter to display the lines of code he had yet to check, a message of error flashed up on the screen. 

ERROR

PROGRAM ROCKMAN.EXE DAMAGED BY UNKNOWN

EMERGENCY

CORE PROGRAM THREATENED BY UNKNOWN

ACTIVATION OF SAITO.BAT

Meijin couldn't see the look in Netto's eyes as he was too disconcerted by what was happening. The computer completely froze as the program saito.bat—or whatever it actually was—executed, its screen displaying what he knew was the proof Rockman had been infected. When the computer eventually started to respond, a new message appeared.

PROGRAM ROCKMAN.EXE DELETED

UNKNOWN DELETED

CORE PROGRAM RESTORED

Whatever professor Hikari had left for, he had better be back soon.

*****

If it wasn't for the fact the computer indicated him that there was still something in quarantine, Meijin would have lost it when he saw that Rockman's program had been deleted. He didn't care about Netto and Enzan behind him, he had to see what had happened. With a quick manipulation, he opened the code of what was left inside the quarantine and read it. No stain that there was once another program hiding the one he was analyzing was visible, and he perfectly knew this so‑called core program wasn't the one of a netnavi. No wonder Rockman couldn't be rebuilt from backup files with that thing inside him! Hopefully, professor Hikari had a particularly clear way to write codes, which let Meijin understand the basis of this one with a quick glance. Of course, he had never asked the name of Netto's twin, but he didn't need it to know Rockman's core program was mainly DNA coded. However, amid the enormous amount of DNA data, there were some he couldn't understand; some which differed from anything he had seen up until then. Not willing to see more of what was becoming an awfully twisted reality, Meijin closed the window without thinking about it twice. Either professor Hikari had quite an incredible explanation, or he had completely lost his mind at some point.

Without even looking at the two boys behind him and silently blessing the fact they had been too shocked to ask him answers, Meijin stood up and left the room.

_ ‘I'll call professor Hikari.’ _

Left alone with Netto, Enzan took some seconds to pay attention to his reaction. Much to his surprise, the expression he was wearing wasn't one of fear or confusion; no, Netto was fully aware his navi was fine. Meijin hadn't say anything, yet he was sure Rockman was alright. He had to be. Of course, Ezan could tell there was still some concern in Netto's eyes, but it wasn't enough to be called fear. Instead, Netto looked shocked by something else, as if a hint Enzan had missed had reminded him of a thing which should have never been seen there. None of them could see what it looked like inside the quarantine, security protocols would not allow it, but they both knew it held some of the answers. For a moment, Netto thought about letting Rockman go back to the net, although he knew it was probably the last thing to do. The young netsavior had learned some things about computing on his own, and could tell the difference between a regular navi's program and the core program of Rockman. He had seen the DNA factor in the lines of code Meijin had displayed, alongside with the name which had been used to code the program.

Saito. It couldn't be a coincidence. 

When it came to custom navis, most of the human‑like ones were based on their operator. It was probably why he had never truly paid attention to the fact that Rockman was so similar to him—too similar, even. They had known each other for years, and he had seen how his father had progressively built his navi by constantly upgrading a more basic version. The first time he had seen the one who would later become Rockman, the little navi couldn't even use a default weapon and was completely vulnerable. Many upgrades had been needed only to make him able to use all battle chips, and from that Netto had understood that his father was creating a different kind of navi. However, when Rockman had eventually been given to him, his father had carefully rebooted him so he would not remember the long way to his own creation. But now? Netto was sure Rockman hadn't been based on him, for he was based on his brother. The young netsavior wondered if his father had tried to replace him with Rockman for a second, before quickly banishing the thought out of his mind: Rockman was Rockman, and that was it.

*****

Professor Hikari came back as soon as he could, that was saying he was running through SciLab's corridors less than three hours after Meijin's call. He had let the success of his secret project in the hands of the doctor Cossak, hoping he would be able to solve the problem before it was too late. As much as he wanted to finish it, making sure Rockman was alright was more important. Meijin had assured him the core program was stable, but he needed to check himself. If it had been damaged even a little… He could only hope only the DNA data would be affected, as they were the only ones he would be able to fix. 

The scientist was more than worried, as all his plans had been disrupted and he wasn't ready for such a thing. Meijin was supposed to catch the hints, then question him, and he would have been able to finally share the secret of both projects; what had happened had completely ruined the scenario! And Netto… His son hadn't given sign of life for the past hours. Of course, he knew he was with Meijin and Enzan, but none of them had been able to get a word from him. It was extremely rare for the boy to act like this, and the last time he had done it was… No, he couldn't have made the link. What was he thinking then? If he had seen the restoration of Rockman's core program—and he had—Netto knew of the link with his brother. The only problem was that he had probably conclude something which wasn't true… The professor knew he had all the proofs needed to be believed, but it wasn't being believed which he was afraid of: it was being understood.

He had insisted on Rockman being left in sleep mode, as he knew that, even without the possibility of his core program being damaged, he would finally have access to all the memories of before being given to Netto if he woke up. Besides, he wanted to spare him a questioning on who and what he truly was. Eventually reaching the room where they were all waiting for him, the professor took a deep breath: he wasn't the scientist who had created one of the most powerful netnavi in the world anymore, he was a father who had wanted to save his child.

The door opened, letting his eyes briefly catch the glare of his son before Yuuichiro decided it was better to address Meijin first. However, the young scientist had left his seat as soon as he had heard him coming in, and barely looked at him when he told him that he could check the core program himself if he wanted to be sure it was intact. Immediately, Yuuichiro used the software he had stored on a nano SD card secretly kept with him for years. The scan was fast, as it knew exactly what it was looking for, and returned results within two minutes: the core program was perfectly functional. With a sigh of relief, Yuuichiro turned around to finally face the three other people in the room. They were looking at him, waiting for an explanation, for something which would make sense. He didn't know what Enzan had understood, but he was sure Meijin and Netto were waiting an explanation concerning his elder son, concerning the link between Rockman and Saito.

And Yuuichiro didn't know how to explain there was no real link, for they were one and the same.

_ ‘Netto?’ _ His son didn't respond, but he knew he had to tell him one way or another. _ ‘Before I take Rockman out of quarantine, there is something you need to know.’ _ He took a second to breath, checking if Enzan and Meijin were listening too. _ ‘Fine… Fifteen years ago, SciLab started to work on a new kind of navi, one that would be able to take complex decisions in order to adapt. Two teams worked on this project simultaneously, both exploring their own theory. The first team was led by the doctor Cossak, I don't know if you remember him. His version of the project aimed to create a navi holding an ultimate program which let him be his own master, but the government eventually decided such a navi was too dangerous to exist and forced the doctor Cossak to delete him. Officially, he did it. However, he actually found a way to save him although the aforesaid navi thought he had betrayed him. This navi, you now know him as Forte, and he was the only one ever created before the project was abandoned.’ _ He made a pause, knowing he was getting to the sensible part. _ ‘I was leading the second team, exploring a completely different way of creating a more adaptive navi. I wanted to create one which could truly befriend its operator, it would have been a revolution. But… A program is only a program. Though I could make a navi follow its operator's orders, I couldn't make one think and act on its own. So I started to think that the answer might as well be in our DNA. However, I could only make about 95% of the program; DNA wasn't enough. I was missing something, and I couldn't figure out what. But a few months after the incident with the first team, the project was cancelled.’ _ Yuuichiro stopped his story for a few second, trying to think of the best way to approach the end of it. _ ‘At the time, I already had you and your brother, and… Saito was showing signs something was wrong with him. We took you both to see a doctor, just in case. You were in perfect health, but he… We were told it would be a miracle if he lived past six. Since there was no treatment for HBD, we knew Saito would never be able to grow up with you. And we… I… couldn't accept that. So, with the help of Mikhail—the doctor Cossak—I resumed the navi project.’ _

_ ‘You used Saito's DNA to create Rockman, right?’ _ Meijin asked, already knowing the answer.

_ ‘Not exactly. Using only the DNA wouldn't have saved him, it would only have created a digital copy.’ _ Yuuichiro risked a look in Netto's direction, and saw his son had understood what he meant. _ ‘Although I used his DNA to created the frame of the core program, I needed something else to really save your brother. I was out of time, and the HBD attacks were becoming more and more frequent... That's when Mikhail suggested to use Pulse transmission. I told your mother, I wanted her to know before I started this… completely mad experiment. It was extremely risky, but using Pulse Transmission, we could send your brother to the Cyberworld. We registered his brain waves, using them to make a perfect copy. Once we were done, we used the DNA coded frame to trap him there and cut the link his consciousness had with his body. Once we managed to stabilize him, I started to create a navi frame to cover the DNA one. It took years, and it was harder than I would have ever thought, but I managed to do it. The navi frame… it was Rockman's program.’_

*****

His brother was alive. He had been with him all along. And he hadn't seen a thing. Rockman was his twin and Netto hadn't suspect anything! And his parents knew it! They had let him think Saito was dead, when they perfectly knew he wasn't!

_ ‘He did it to protect you. To protect… us.’ _

The soft voice of his brother pulled him out of his thoughts, but it didn't calm his anger. To protect them? You don't erase people's existence to protect them!

_ ‘He forbade me to ever mention you to anyone!’ _ Netto almost yelled while taking his PET. _ ‘That's not fair!’ _

It wasn't, indeed. Their father probably had a reason, he had to believe it. The thought of being his own ghost sent him shivers, but he knew he was alive. The memories were back, and they felt as if they belonged to a stranger at first… However, they were his. He had agreed with his father to make them inaccessible while the rockman program was on so he wouldn't have to hide anything from Netto. He had chosen to forget who he was instead of simply lying. Of course, it would have only been for five years as their father had decided to tell Netto the truth once he would be fifteen, but Saito couldn't really understand his own decision. How had he come to think it would be better that way? Had he really been so afraid of being incapable of keeping it for himself for five years? Probably… Five years seems to be an eternity when you are only ten years old. Yet, he had imagined this moment so many times! He had been so sure his brother would have been thrilled to see him alive! And now… It just felt wrong. It was… painful.

_ ‘I was sure you were dead, that I would never see you again, and… You knew.’ _

The sentence, said with an anger which had become cold, hit him with more strength than he would have expected. He knew. He knew Netto had been left thinking he was gone forever. He knew he was able to tell him in secret. He knew he could have spared him some of the pain he had endured. He knew.

But he hadn't done anything.

He had blindly obeyed when his father had told him it was too dangerous to tell Netto. He had kept on smiling and had tried to cheer up his little brother when he could see him, even though all he wanted to do was crying because he could truly be with him. He had complied by every instruction he had been given, because he thought his father could only be right. Because fathers were always right. Or so had he convinced himself. 

Now, he was doubting it.

‘_ You said nothing…’ _

Netto's voice was nothing more than an exhausted whisper, one last sentence without any hope of receiving an answer. Saito hadn't said a word, and he couldn't tell if he had heard his resentful accusations—a part of him wished he hadn't. In fact, Netto could guess that the empty look on his brother's face hid a torment of thoughts. Saito was in his own world, both physically and mentally. Netto was about to look away from the PET, realizing his brother wouldn't talk to him, when he noticed a frown on Saito's face. He sat on his bed, taking his PET with both hands, to see better. It wasn't an angry frown, not with such an empty look. It was… Sad? No, not exactly. 

Fear. It was fear.

Saito was processing his own memories, connecting the old ones with the new ones, and Netto could only imagine how demanding such a thing could be. However, even though his brother seemed to have stopped processing any information about his environment, he knew he was still thinking—it was something his father had already explained to him when he had reported Rockman was slower than other navis when it came to executing particularly heavy programs. Netto looked at him, one of his hand moving in front of the enclosure on the top of his PET to feel the almost scorching air flow, before he took off the protective case of the small device to help it cool down. Cool down… He too had cooled down. Even though Saito hadn't say a thing, he could tell he was afraid of people learning who he was. Netto wasn't stupid either, he knew his brother was in a delicate situation. Himself regretted the words he had just said, knowing he wasn't truly the one who had decided to lie to him, but the thought he didn't even try to tell him was a bitter one. However, if Netto could be angry for being lied to, he could tell Saito was terrified of not being forgiven for having pretended to be a simple navi to everyone.

The rockman program had been destroyed in order to protect him from the maverick virus, and all had been explained when nobody was ready. Not only was Saito stuck in the PET, but he was also stuck on the wrong side of the mirror. For the thousand time since he had woken up in the cyberworld seven years ago, he cursed the screen between him and his family. And Roll? Would she reject him if she ever came to know? After all, he wasn't a navi like her… Rockman was a lie. No, she was too nice. But… Would she believe him if he tried to tell her?

A signal in the PET informed him their father was trying to call them and, which Netto had noticed too but completely ignored. Interrupting his analyzing task so he could answer, Saito took note his brother wasn't willing to talk, but decided to pick up anyway. Because one of them didn't want to see their father didn't mean both had to be left without answers! Instead of appearing on the PET's screen, the window opened in the cyberworld as Saito was decided to understand why he had to be forgotten in the real world. Yuuichiro looked at him with surprised when he saw only one of the twins, but didn't ask why when he understood that even Saito was reluctant to talk to him.

_ ‘Ah, Saito… I have retrieved the backup frame from one of the earlier version of the rockman program and it's ready to be used. I can't send it in an email, it's too heavy, so I'll give it to you once I see you. Also... I'm sorry but I'll have to rebuild the last version since the backup was already used two years ago and I couldn't recreate one without deactivating the program, so it will take some time. I already have a lot of cache data here, but I'd like Netto to bring your PET so I could get the ones in there too, that way I should be done in less than a month.’ _ Yuuichiro paused, expecting an "okay" which never came as Saito only waited for him to say what he had to say. _ ‘Listen… I know you were expecting things to be different, but what is done is done.’ _ He looked at his son with surprise when he saw him pull a window to cut the sound coming out from his PET. _ ‘Saito?’ _

_ ‘Why did you forbid Netto to talk of me?’ _ The child had eventually decided to ask for the answers he wanted, to voice what sounded more like an accusation than a question. _ ‘Why did you make everyone forget I was even there?!’ _

Yuuichiro looked at him without knowing what to answer. It was just like Forte… He had done all he could to save his son, and now he felt more betrayed than ever because he didn't tell him everything. It was the reason he wanted to wait for the other project to be completed before revealing the truth, for it held the answer to why people should forget Saito instead of knowing he had died. 

_ ‘I couldn't let them know you were dead.’ _ His voice broke, as he remembered how hard it had been to erase his son's death to prepare the day he would have finally succeeded in completely saving him.

_ ‘Why?’ _

_ ‘Because you're not. People are not ready for you, they can't know yet.’ _ Yuuichiro did his best not to mention the exact truth. _ ‘If I wanted to save you, I couldn't let people know you had died in the first place. If I wanted you to be able to come back into this world one day, I had to make sure nobody would even know you had left it at some point.’ _


	3. As weeks go by

About two weeks had passed since the truth had been reveal to Netto and, even if he and his brother were still slightly in bad terms with their father, Yuuichiro had had a chance to explain himself. Actually, he had found a way to make sure they would have to talk to him by asking for the cache data as he knew Saito wouldn't be able to leave the PET before he gave him the backup program of his obsolete navi frame. He could have given it to him by USB, of course, but then again it had been a great excuse to see them. Haruka had told him they would eventually understand by themselves when given some time, but he knew what she meant by time. It wasn't only time they needed, it was the secrets which were still kept from them; secrets they would learn once Yuuichiro would be sure it was the right time to tell them.

Enzan had been strangely supportive of his sons, more than Yuuichiro would have expected, but he had also been a great mediator between them and their father. The teenager had tried to understand the situation objectively, and hadn't hesitate to ask questions to which Yuuichiro knew it would be better to answer if he wanted to keep his help.  In fact, Yuuichiro was almost sure it was as much because he wanted to help as he wanted to understand for himself. Even though his help was unexpected—a part of him still couldn't believe Enzan, a teenager, could put so much in understanding him when countless adults wouldn't have tried in the first place—it wasn't unwelcomed and Yuuichiro was glad to have it. Blues had been extremely useful too, as he had been the one who had managed to convince his elder to stay out of trouble as long as the rockman program hadn't been rewritten. It was reassuring to have the two on his side, as well as Meijin to whom he had explained everything so he could have some help with the second project. Of course, the young scientist had been suspicious at first and he couldn't blame him: the idea was completely insane! However, he had shown him the results so far and it had triggered something in his cadet. The doctor Cossak sure had helped to give clear explanations, especially since it was the domain in which he had decided to reinvent himself after the failure of the navi project. 

Nevertheless, it was getting more and more of a problem to hide what had happened to Rockman and his sons' friends were getting suspicious. He had thought he would be able to rebuild the last version of the rockman program quite easily as he was used to work with it, but it had turned out to be a true obstacle course, especially since he had to find and recreate all the modifications Saito's adaptive program had done. Even with the help of Meijin, there was no way to be done by the end of the month. Instead, he figured out he could make a transitional frame, in other words a simplified version of the final program, so Saito would be able to be Rockman without having to wait for the full frame to be completed. Both of his sons hadn't been happy to learn that the moment they would get the program back was delayed, but he swore he had seen them smile when he had told them that the transisional version would be ready before the little outing they had planed with their friends. However, a more immediate solution was needed to cover the deletion of the rockman program, a solution professor Hikari was quite reluctant to try. Still, tough times call for more risky measures, and it truly was the only way to hide the current situation. 

_ ‘Netto, Saito, there is something I need to give you.’ _ As he said this, the scientist handed a small USB to Netto.  _ ‘The navi inside it is named Axl, he is a prototype able to copy the appearance and abilities of other navis. He will cover for you, Saito.’ _

His sons shared a look, wondering why their father hadn't talked of this Axl before, and then gladly accepted the USB. Before their father could pursue further explanations, Netto had disappeared, taking his brother and the copynavi with him. With a sigh, the scientist wondered who of his children or him would be confronted to the fact that Axl wasn't Saito by Haruka. It would probably be him, as his wife would probably wait for him to be home to approach the subject. He smiled, he knew she was already aware the truth had been revealed to their sons. He would have to tell her what she still didn't know about the second project soon, as he knew she was waiting for him to tell her more so she could be prepared or she would try to find what it was for herself for sure. He loved his wife, really, but he also knew how much of a pain it could be when she had decided she would get to the bottom of something. Well, the twins had to take it from someone...

_ ‘Have children, they said. It's wonderful, they said…’ _

_ ‘You signed for this, professor,’  _ Meijin said with a laugh as he entered the room.

_ ‘I signed for an only child, not troublemaking twins with an amazing ability to get in trouble with every crime syndicates in town…’ _

Then again, those two were the lights of his life. 

The professor knew Axl was in good hands, if it was earlier than he had expected. The copynavi was supposed to stay with him for at least another year before being given to his sons, but he thought it wouldn't cause any problem to precipitate things a little. After all, he could still do the updates when needed to complete Axl's programming and it would only be small details anyway. At the time being, he had given him all the data he needed to mimic Rockman and it would do the trick. Of course, he was looking forward for the moment he would finally find a way to give Axl the ability to get those data by himself, but he wanted to make him capable of storing more than one mimic at a time first. Professor Hikari smiled, his sons would be so surprised once the copynavi would be installed in the PET.

However, he had the feeling he'd better finish a certain other navi first… At the rate things were going, he might not have two years left to work on his project. Her frame wouldn't be hard to perfect, but her code was another story. Hopefully, with Meijin by his side, he was confident: she would be made in time.  
  


*****  
  


_ ‘Get up everyone! Rise and shine!’ _

_ ‘Rockman!’  _ a muffled voice moaned from under the bed sheets.  _ ‘What the heck?!’ _

_ ‘What? A navi must wake up his operator if he's late!’ _

Late for what? Netto might not be fully awake, but he was almost sure it was Saturday… Which meant no school, nothing special before the afternoon unless some maverick navis decided to wreak havoc somewhere… 

_ ‘Wait, no. Go back to sleep, it's saturday.’ _

Although his mind was still confused, Netto knew it wasn't Rockman. A look at the PET confirmed this when he saw a perfect imitation of the full rockman program instead of the obsolete version his brother had been using for the past week. Rubbing his eyes, he sat on his bed with a yawn. 

_ ‘You're Axl, the copynavi, right?’ _

_ ‘Himself!’ _ The navi gave the boy a big smile while he was detailing him with eyes full of wonders.  _ ‘Impressive, uh?’ _

_ ‘You look just like Rockman! That awesome!’ _

Indeed, the more Netto looked at him, the more convinced he was that Axl truly had the ability to perfectly copy his brother's appearance. Of course, the personality would probably be another story, but Saito would be able to guide him using the internal channel of the PET. It was easy to see Axl was rather proud of himself when he quickly explained how professor Hikari had programmed him and that he would soon be able to copy more than just Rockman. However, after a while, he started to look around as if he was seeking for something.

_ ‘Uh… Speaking of Rockman, he should be in the PET, no?’ _ He turned his back to Netto to look behind him. _ ‘Because the thing's quite empty.’ _

Far from being worried about his brother, Netto barely shrugged while taking the PET from its charging station. Saito was probably spending some time with their mother since it should have been too early in the morning for Netto to be awake. Since their father had explained to her everything the evening before so she would not confront him later, his brother was surely back to his old habits. It was confirmed when he joined Haruka in the kitchen where she was happily talking with her elder son through the screen of her naviless PET. When they saw him coming in, they were quite surprised and automatically checked what time it was before even greeting him. Axl then decided to appear on Netto's shoulder so he could take part in the conversation, so Saito did the same though he stayed on the table on which his mother's PET was. Seeing this, the copynavi jumped next to him while carefully staying in the limited area in which his binding PET could maintain the hologram. Once there, he looked at Saito, then at his brother, and at Saito again.

_ ‘Aw come on! You can't be serious! You two really had to be identical! You couldn't be fraternal twins instead?!’ _

As the twins looked at each other in surprise, Haruka muffled a laugh. She remembered how many times people had gotten her sons mixed up when they were young, and how she could herself mix them up too when she wasn't paying enough attention. Of course, she had her ways to know who was who, little details she probably was the only one to notice, but Yuuichiro had much more trouble to be sure of which twin it was when they were afar and sometimes had to ask her. She sighed: it was back when they were still a perfect little family, with no huge secret as they had now. 

As her sons talked with Axl, she took some time to observe them. It was obvious the copynavi wasn't Rockman to her, and he wouldn't have been able to trick her: the way he moved and talk, his reactions… She couldn't see her son in them. However, it would have to be enough to trick everyone else. A glimmer of sadness passed in her eyes as she thought of the consequences it would have on her sons if the truth about Saito ever came to be discovered. She knew how cautious her husband had been, how he had prepared everything to prevent this from happening; still, it scared her that things might not go as well as they should. Everything had been made so it would be impossible to find out Saito had officially died without having witnessed it, the program was ready to create him a whole life if needed, but it was all so insane. Could such a plan even work?

Haruka looked at her elder, thinking about how strange it was to finally see him as he should really look instead the simplified appearance of his navi frame. He seemed perfectly human, and to her he was. Where navis' skins were without any imperfection unless they had been programmed to be there, she could see the variations in the color of the one of her son, the veins under it. His body was the perfect replica of the one he should have had, on all possible levels, and no navi would ever have an appearance so detailed. Sadly, it was partially why her husband had to cover it so their son would be thought to be a navi, instead of just giving him the abilities he needed to survive in the cyberworld; the second reason simply being that it was too detailed for many parts of the cyberworld and asked for too much power to function properly. Even the last generation of PET was barely powerful enough to let Saito wander freely inside it without a navi frame, and that was only if he was alone. She wasn't an expert, but she recalled the explanation given by her husband was that their graphic boards weren't powerful enough so the mainboard also had to be used, even if he could probably upgrade Netto PET so it wouldn't be the case with his anymore.

After a while, Netto had taken his breakfast and left for the bathroom, leaving both Saito and Axl with her. She smiled as she heard her elder talking of the fact they would go see their friends in the afternoon to the copynavi, before asking them to make sure Netto wouldn't forget to clean his room before leaving the house.

*****  
  


After two weeks of Netto systematically refusing going out with them, Meiru had finally convinced her childhood friend to come to the mall with her and their friends. She suspected something to have happened to Rockman, as almost every time he had been avoiding them so much before was because of this, but he had never responded to her questions. Strangely enough, Roll still received emails written by Rockman when she sent one to him, and the pink navi was sure it was his writing and not the one of anyone else. Nonetheless, both were worried as they knew of the maverick virus spreading through the net. As it had happened when Cache had created his phantom navis, trust wasn't at its top in the cyberworld. Hopefully, a new scan made especially for the virus was on the market, and it had become widely used. Since IPC was the company which distributed them, Enzan had gotten some for all of them before everyone else, but he had disappeared as soon as he had given them and Meiru hadn't been able to ask him questions about what had happened on his last mission with Netto. Obviously, he wanted to avoid the subject as much as all the ones who might know something about it.

As she arrived at the mall, she saw Yaito and Dekao waving at her from a bench. With a smile, she quickly joined them as Roll appeared on her shoulder to say hello too. Not even a minute later, Netto was finally in sight and the small group went on for an afternoon together.

However, neither Meiru or Roll could get rid of the feeling that something was off. Of course, Netto had assured them Rockman had only been slightly damaged two weeks ago when Blues and he had been attacked by infected navis in the undernet and that his father had kept him at SciLab only to be sure he wasn't infected himself. Still, if it could be true, professor Hikari would never have kept Rockman for so long without it being a necessity. There was something her friend refused to tell her, and she knew Roll felt that way too. Even though their time together was fun, the feeling wouldn't go away. Instead, it got stronger and stronger until her navi asked her to get somewhere none of their friends would hear what she had to say. At the time, the corridor near the restroom had seemed to be a good idea, but now Meiru wondered why she hadn't choose a place with less passerbys. Anyway, it would have to be enough! 

Once she saw Meiru was waiting for her to talk, Roll appeared in front of her. Immediately, her operator noticed the frown on her face and asked her what was wrong. The pink navi was hesitant, and truly hoped to be wrong, but…

_ ‘Meiru, I don't think this is Rockman.’ _

_ ‘So you got that feeling too?’ _ the red‑haired girl asked.

_ ‘He's been acting strangely, and Netto too… I mean, it's like he tries to act like Rockman, but it doesn't work.’ _

Their conversation was interrupted when all the lights started to fry, soon followed by the billboards. Immediately, Meiru went back with her friends as they all decided to check the cyberworld of the mall. Finding the ones responsible for the mess was the easy part, having to delete security navis turned insane by the maverick virus without touching them was tougher. Netto had informed them that their navis would get infected only if their frames were cut, so they should be fine since those security navis only had busters, unless they got really damaged. However, it led to another question: how had they been infected in the first place? The virus had to be transmitted by another navi, one which had a cut type default weapon, or which could access battle chips. Then again, if the navi could access battle chips, was he operated by a human or was he like the Darkloids? 

With the help of the few uninfected security navis and those of other people, the infected ones quickly got deleted. Once it was done, most people plug out their navis and returned to their activities, as it wasn't the first time such a thing had happened. Still, the responsible had to be somewhere in the wild, and probably nearby. 

_ ‘Arsen blades!’ _

A volley of bare blades appeared in the sky of the cyberworld before ripping through the air directly to the remaining navis, heading specifically to the custom ones. If Roll, Gutsman, Glyde, and Axl had successfully avoided the attack, it wasn't the case for all navis and some had been logged out. The battle went on for almost ten minutes before the virus took effect on the ones it had infected, and suddenly they weren't fighting against one enemy but five. Netto had tried to convince his friends to plug out their navis as all those who weren't netsaviors had, but none of them was decided to give up. 

Inside the PET, Saito could only hear what was happening through the radio link he had with Axl while there, but he could easily imagine what the copynavi was seeing. He knew his brother would plug him out immediately if he tried to join the battle, but he had to try. Since asking politely to be plugged in wasn't an option, he decided to use the net to get to the mall's cyberworld. Sure, it wasn't the fastest way, but it would work just the same. Taking advantage of the fact Netto was focused on operating Axl, he left the PET and made his way through the net. When he eventually reached the battlefield, only one of the infected navis had been deleted. He knew he couldn't afford rushing in without his brother having his back, especially with this frame, but he wasn't going to stand there watching either! After a quick analysis of the situation, he equipped his buster; sure, strategy was more Netto's thing than his, but sometimes you have to do the job yourself.

Since he was far enough, nobody had noticed his presence yet. He smiled: he had the element of surprise on his side. Of course, an area steal would have been perfect, but he would have to do without it as he ran toward one of the infected navi. Saito knew he would have to delete him if he refused to log out as the ones he had faced with Blues, and the idea was hardly cheering, but he wanted to try to send him back to his binding PET first. However, his plan changed when he saw Roll threatened by the sword of another navi. Immediately, he changed his course to place himself between her and her opponent, and shot. It was enough to repel the other navi, but far from being harmful; this version of the buster had been made for when he was still learning how to use it, and wasn't powerful at all. 

From Roll's perspective, this blue navi had simply come from nowhere. She could tell he was hardly made for battle, as his buster lacked the power to even do important damage at point blank range, but she wasn't against some help. Ever since Rockman had engaged the fight with the navi which had contaminated the others, she had been somewhat left aside as Meiru had refused to let her go help him, and had ended up facing one of the infected alone. As her operator sent her the boomerang battle chip, she jumped aside to avoid another swinging sword, and so did the navi who had apparently decided to stay by her side. In the blur of the fight, she couldn't really catch a glimpse of his face, but the way he moved was extremely familiar. However, the fact he apparently had no operator to send him battle chips worried her: for what she knew, he didn't stand a chance alone. 

_ ‘Battle chip: MetGuard! Slot in!’ _

Much to Roll's surprise, the shield appeared around them to protect them from the upcoming attack. Much to her surprise, still, it wasn't a battle chip sent by Meiru; no, it was Netto's. For her defense, she wasn't the only one who was confused by this: both Meiru and the other navi seemed as lost as she were. Actually, Saito wasn't exactly confused: he knew his brother could switch the navi he was operating quite easily. However, if he had done so, it meant that he had figured out what his twin was doing and was probably about to plug him out.

_ ‘Let me fight, Netto!’ _ he yelled to the one he knew would probably not listen anyway.

Then, Roll understood why the blue navi was familiar. His appearance might be different, and he was certainly weaker than she had ever seen him, but she knew she wasn't mistaken: it was Rockman, the real one.  
  


*****

_ ‘What were you thinking?’  _ The young netsavior was gripping his PET, his expression betraying how scared he had been.  _ ‘You could have been deleted!’ _

_ ‘Sorry, Netto…’ _

As soon as he had sent him the battle chip, his brother had plugged Saito out before keeping up with the battle on Axl's side. Now that the last infected navis had run away, he could finally try to understand why his twin had done something so reckless when he wasn't even supposed to show up. Actually, understanding wasn't exactly the right term as Netto had been too afraid by the thought he could have lost his brother again to even try… Saito knew he had messed up by doing this, but he had no regrets: he had tried to help his friends instead of letting them fight while hiding away, and he knew it was the right thing to do. Outside netbattles, he fought to protect others and he wasn't willing to give that up because of an obsolete frame!

_ ‘Uh… Netto?’ _ Meiru tried to get the boy's attention by coming closer, and asked him the fatal question once she knew she had it.  _ ‘Who's that navi?’ _

_ ‘He's…’ _ In his precipitation, Axl had forgotten he couldn't give Saito's real name before appearing on Netto's shoulder. He hesitated, before picking the first thing he could think of. _ ‘Hub?’ _

Perhaps it wasn't the best name he could come with, but it would have to be this one. If Saito wanted to complain, he would have to wait! Of course, he couldn't let either of the twins talk: they had no idea of the lie he had invented to cover them and he couldn't let them ruin it. Before Netto could open his mouth, the copynavi started to tell the story he had thought of in case Saito couldn't stay quietly in the PET.

_ ‘He's a prototype from SciLab. Dad thought we could take him outside since he never gets to quit the labs' cyberworld, so Netto picked him up yesterday.’ _

_ ‘A prototype?’ _ Axl smiled as Dekao had asked the very question he needed to continue his story as he wished.

_ ‘Yeah, though he's an old one. Actually, he's the prototype for my AI so he wasn't really meant for fighting.’ _

Axl let a sigh of relief slip when he saw the twins go on with the lie, but he could only hope it would be enough. Of course, he wasn't oblivious; he knew that, although he could perfectly copy Rockman's appearance, the others had noticed he couldn't act the same. Even with Saito's guidance through the radio link, Axl was perfectly aware Roll was suspecting something even if he couldn't know what it was for sure. Now that the elder twin had joined him on the shoulder of their common operator, he could see how she was staring at them and it was making him uneasy.

_ ‘I must say,’ _ started Glyde while looking at them,  _ ‘the resemblance is quite striking.’  _

Indeed, now that they were side by side, it was impossible to ignore it. Their color patterns were almost the same, except for the golden parts which were missing in the oldest frame, replaced either by gray or blue equivalents. Of course, the main difference probably was the fact that Saito had no helmet, this part of the suit being one the less important, his father had decided it could wait—moreover, Axl had heard one or two stories about Saito hating hats which were probably another reason the previous frames had been lacking a helmet. Besides this, they shared the same green eyes and dark blue hair—though it was mostly hidden under the helmet for Axl— as well as a relatively similar build although Saito seemed younger. Yes, Saito's current frame truly was one of the first drafts of the rockman's one.

Axl smiled, as he saw that almost everyone believed his lie, and gave a look to the elder twin. He could tell how awkward he must feel, especially since professor Hikari had been very specific about the fact that Saito hated lying to people—and in this case, it was to his friends, which made it even worse. At the time, he had thought it wouldn't be much of a problem since he would be the one faking it and Saito was only supposed to keep a few things quiet. Now, however, it would probably make them suspicious.

Later that day, their PET was back on its charging station: apparently, having two navis inside it emptied the battery much faster than usual. Netto was in the room with them, reading mangas instead of doing his homework, but none of the two navis was willing to remind him to do it—one because he didn't even care, and the other because he was thinking about something else. After several minutes of a heavy silence, Saito decided to finally express his opinion about a certain name chosen by a certain someone.

_ ‘Hub? Really?’ _

_ ‘Do I need to remind you your actual name is Saito? Because it sounds quite the same to me.’ _

Their short exchange was interrupted by the arrival of Roll, as both of them had forgotten she had free access to their PET. 

_ ‘I want to talk to Rockman.’  _ She looked at Saito, knowing he would understand what she meant.  _ ‘The real Rockman.’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't like adding new characters to the canon, but apparently 14 year old me didn't think the same... Anyway, Axl is here ^^" I mean, it's not like if he was coming out of nowhere either! Still, I never played the Rockman X games (or any game actually...) so his personality probably is different. Well... I guess it'll have to do.


	4. A symbol's fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘I want to talk to Rockman.’ She looked at Saito, knowing he would understand what she meant. ‘The real Rockman.’

When Roll had entered the PET with her arms crossed, Axl knew she hadn't believed anything he had said three hours earlier. When she had asked to talk to the real Rockman while glaring at Saito, he knew she was perfectly aware of their little game. When he had looked for Netto to get some help and had only heard snoring, he knew that the pink navi would get what she wanted from them—answers. In short, Axl knew they were in for an explanation.

_ ‘Fine, then I guess it's no use to keep pretending.’ _ The copynavi then let his frame take its real appearance, trading the blue color pattern for a black and red one.  _ ‘Rock? Come here instead of looking like a surprised flappy virus.’ _

The aforesaid navi reluctantly came closer, carefully avoiding Roll's look as he took a few steps ahead. With a sigh, Axl came to the conclusion that he would probably have to take the lead before he could hear Saito mutter an excuse to his pink friend. Surprisingly enough, nothing happened as he had expected: in other words, no feeling of betrayal, no argument, and no pink navi leaving without a word. Maybe he would have been less surprised if he had known Roll for more than a day, but it didn't mean the copynavi didn't feel quite left out as he wasn't needed to explain anything. Stepping back to give the two some space, he quietly left them to their conversation. The thing was: Axl wasn't exactly the kind of navi to stay calmly somewhere, and became bored soon enough. Thus, the red‑haired copynavi decided to listen to the ongoing conversation as a way to pass time.

Apparently, things were going well: Saito had explained how his frame had been damaged on his last mission, letting aside the fact that it had actually been deleted by his own programming to keep him from being infected by the very virus they were investigating on, and Roll had been extremely understanding. Of course, the pink navi was worried that Rockman had to use an obsolete version of his frame and didn't totally understand how it was possible, but she had learned through the years that her friend's programming was unique and could even surprise the one who wrote it. During the whole time they talked, Axl was almost sure he had never heard Saito lying; he had only omitted some facts so he would not have to tell Roll the whole truth. At some point, she came back to Axl to ask him about how he could copy Rockman's appearance, question to which the copynavi felt more than enthusiastic since he could talk about his very pride.

When Roll came back to her operator, her expression was finally peaceful. Meiru then understood her navi had gotten the answers she was looking for, and that Rockman was fine. However, when the red‑haired girl tried to know what her friend had been told, she refused to say a word. Rockman had asked her to keep it quiet, since professor Hikari would have fixed his frame soon, and she would never betray his trust.  
  


Her navi left for Netto's PET many times in the following week, and went to Netcity with Rockman and Hub a few time too. From what Meiru could see, she enjoyed the company of the prototype navi as much as the one of Rockman, but it made sense, she thought, as their personalities were similar. Surprisingly, Netto had been watching the three of them quite closely, although it made sense since he was supposed to keep Hub safe. Hence, it was perfectly logical for him to be the first one noticing something was wrong when they came across some scientist navi giving out vaccine chip for the maverick virus in Netcity.

_ ‘Eh Rockman, you think dad finally found how to counter the virus?’ _

_ ‘I don't know, Netto,’ _ his brother answered, although he was still using the obsolete frame, _ ‘I think he would have told us…’ _

_ ‘Hub…’ _

Axl sighed, now that Roll knew, Saito had become less careful when it came to who was supposed to be Rockman. However, if it was no problem as long as Meiru wasn't around, they still had to take precautions. Then again, the transitional program was finished and Netto had initialized its installation, so Saito would soon be able to go back to being Rockman. And him? He would probably stick around, wandering in Netto's PET or in SciLab's cyberworld. Of course, the prospect wasn't delightful, but professor Hikari's project wouldn't be used before another two years, so Axl would have to wait before his help would be requested once more. Who knew? Maybe the professor would register him as a regular navi so he would be able to hang out outside SciLab without having to borrow another navi's appearance.

When Axl focused on reality once again, he saw both Saito and Roll talking to the mysterious navi. He came closer, minutiously listening to what he had to say, but never got too close either.

_ ‘You see, SciLab decided to give out those vaccine chips as soon as they were created to stop the spreading of the virus. We can't afford more navis to be turned insane, this would be dramatic. However, it would have been risky to let civilians know about those chips before they were ready, you see, we don't know who is behind all this.’ _

_ ‘Can we have one then?’ _ As he said so, Saito looked at Roll to silently ask her to go on with his plan.

_ ‘Sure, here is one for each of you. You should use them now, the sooner the better.’ _

_ ‘Actually…’ _ Roll started, _ ‘We would like to tell our operators first, but thank you.’ _

_ ‘Ah, I forgot to ask, do you know if something happened to Megaman?’ _ Roll gave Saito a look of surprise, not understanding why he was asking such a question while using the name he was known by as an official.  _ ‘We haven't heard of him or his operator lately, so we thought that you may know since the labs work with the netpolice.’ _

_ ‘Haven't you heard?’ _ The navi seemed genuinely surprised, as if he thought the news would have already spread.  _ ‘He has been infected three weeks ago, and deleted since. I'm sorry to be the one telling you this…’ _

Roll covered her mouth in horror, half so she would seem truly shocked, half because it was too much of a coincidence. Hopefully, Meiru was too busy with her piano lesson to look at her PET. A few navimeters away, Axl spoke to Netto.

_ ‘You're thinking what I'm thinking?’ _

_ ‘He isn't from Scilab.’ _

As he heard Netto's voice coming from the PET's link, Saito turned around to see Axl holding the rockbuster to the scientist navi. The aforesaid navi smiled as he saw the threat, before noticing the family crest on the copynavi's chest.

_ ‘So you actually survived being infected, Megaman.’ _ Once he was welcomed by the looks of surprise of every navi who had heard him, he looked at the one he thought to be the famous hero.  _ ‘Or, should I say… Rockman? I believe it's your real name, right?’ _

Axl grunted, fully aware people could now link him to Netto. Of course, the ones the twins had been fighting used to know who they really were, but at least the minor net criminals couldn't find them to get revenge as the navi crest was replaced for their missions, just like Rockman's frame was slightly modified to put up a smokescreen. The copynavi thought he could simply shoot the other right in his own crest, ending it now by deleting him, but he had the feeling doing so wouldn't solve anything. Even worse, he could end up in a fight! Not only would many navis—including Saito and Roll—be put at risk, but he would probably go back to his true frame if he got hit too hard.

Seeing the copynavi's indecisiveness, the usurper laughed before logging out. However, as soon as he did, all the virtual screens in Netcity turned black as a voice rose.

_ ‘If you are hearing this message, it means that Doppler has left Netcity. Oh I don't expect you to know this name, after all you probably didn't ask him. However, you must know he was the one who gave you the vaccine chips you probably have already used. Right after this message, a signal will be sent to activate the program contained in them before you can uninstall it, or, should I say, the virus in them. I can already hear those scientists trying to find a way to prevent it, but I know you won't find one in time, you pathetic humans.’ _ The voice laughed, full of confidence.  _ ‘However, know that all the infected navis won't become insane dolls only good at destroying their surroundings, no… The ones worth it will become stronger than they've ever been, and they will be freed of their enslavement to rise as true beings. To those who will be chosen, know that we are waiting for you. For the others, you are free to join us for a world free of humans' domination! Together, we will rise above humans and take the place which is rightly ours! We will make this imperfect world an Eden for us, netnavis! We are ready to fight.’ _  
  


Things worsened quickly, as the signal was sent to the virus which then started its purge. Screams of both pain and fear echoed the sound of weapons clashing, as navis begun to attack one another. Soon, the horrible spectacle turned out to be nothing but an hecatomb. In a matter of seconds, the safety of the virtual city had become their doom. Almost defenseless, navis were falling one by one, as the few who had decided to fight had been overpowered by the crowd. Running away had become impossible, there were too many infected ones in the city. The only way out would have been to plug out, but the access by the cloud was impossible. Operators and netnavis had been completely separated, and the second ones had no choice but to survive until someone found a way to save them all.

Surrounded by a dozen of infected navis, Axl knew he was done for; there was no way he could make it out without help. Unfortunately, the last allies he had found had been deleted, and so would he be soon at this rate. He didn't know what had happened to Saito and Roll, as the three of them had been separated almost ten minutes ago. He shivered at the thought they could have been deleted, but tried to focus on his own battle. As long as he hadn't seen their data being crushed himself, they were alive! He moaned as another buster shot burned his shoulder, eventually destroying his copied frame. With a jump, he avoided the navi coming at him and drew one of his guns. Shooting at point‑blank range, he deleted the yellow childish navi. Probably the one of a kid, he thought, sorry for the operator who would later find his friend deleted. He shot another, not even muttering a word: he wasn't in a netbattle, there was no rule forcing him to announce all his attacks. No, it was a death battle, and yelling his moves before making them was probably the worst thing to do. As he was facing another threat, he heard the sound of an armed buster. A sound he knew meant nothing good: a charged shot. The copynavi turned around, trying to figure out who was his attacker, but got hit before being able to do so. The wall cracked at the impact of his body, and data began to leak: another shot like this one, and he would be ineluctably deleted.

_ ‘Axl!’  _ A pink laser sent the one who had almost gotten rid of him in a nearby datablock, as he turned his head to see a familiar blue navi. _ ‘Axl! Are you...?’ _ The sentence was never finished, as the child decided to ask for help instead. ‘ _ Roll!’ _

The pink navi came from above, running to Axl as Rockman protected them from the navis around; for it was really the Rockman Roll was used to. The copynavi smiled: Saito had finally updated the transitional frame. However, he wasn't blind either, and knew the three of them would never be enough. Even with Roll able to heal them, their hit points were running extremely low. Of course, both she and he could be retrieved by using backup data, but Saito… If he was deleted here, without any link to a PET for his core program to find a haven, he would die. Definitely.

After almost an hour of a difficult survival, a semblance of calm was back in Netcity. Sadly, it wasn't due to the end of the massacre, or maybe it was in a way. Uninfected navis had gathered, hiding wherever they could so they would not be deleted or contaminated. The city, symbol of the cyberworld, looked empty of all life, as almost all the ones who had once been wandering there before were either deleted or infected. The only navis which had escaped where those who had been "chosen" by the virus, but nobody knew exactly what it meant at the time being. Actually, nobody even truly wanted to know what it meant. All they could do was wait, a long and torturous wait, in hope the access to the cloud would be re‑established so they would finally escape this nightmare. 

Five hours after the moment they had all heard the virtual screens display the same message, plugging out came in a wave as navis were called back to their operators. Relief invaded the hearts of those who could finally be reunited, but it couldn't cover the grief for all those who had been lost, whether it was by deletion or by infection. Although they were eventually free, they knew it wasn't over: all of this only was a mere warning, for those who dared to rebel, but the real fight was still lying ahead; and this time, it would be a true war.  
  


*****

Roll would never forget what happened, for not even resetting of her program would be enough to forget the five hours of pure terror she had been through. When she had felt the connection with her PET while hiding in the destroyed Netcity, it had seemed unreal. Her body had then turned into shapeless data as she was called back to Meiru, and she had welcomed the familiar tingling sensation more than ever. Meanwhile she was disappearing, she could hear other navis being plugged out and let the hint of a smile show up on her face: it was finally over. 

When her eyes opened anew, the first things she saw were tears; small drops falling on the camera, small drops covering the microphone, small drops rolling on her operator's cheeks. If she had been able to, she would have cried as well. Instead, she did the only thing she thought would comfort Meiru.

_ ‘I'm back, Meiru.’  _ She appeared on her shoulder, mimicking the closest thing to a hug she could do with this holographic form. _ ‘I'm okay.’ _

Staying in the background, Enzan was looking silently at the reunion. Although he wouldn't show it, he had been scared of learning the pink navi had been deleted, and it was a relief to see her on the shoulder of her operator. His eyes then fixed on Netto and his father, as Axl and Rockman reappeared in the PET. No, not Rockman. Saito. As unbelievable as it still was.

_ ‘Enzan,‘  _ a voice said, coming from his PET,  _ ‘I have received the data the Netpolice collected.‘ _

‘ _ Thank you, Blues. _ ’

The teenager looked one last time to the happy scene in front of him, before turning around and walking away with a soft smile; it was a friends reunion, a family reunion, he had nothing to do there. Nevertheless, he felt jealous somehow… Professor Hikari had played death and had succeeded, and part of him couldn't help thinking Saito wasn't the only one who deserved a chance to live ten years ago. He sighed, chasing this reminiscent thought, and left the room. The story he had heard a month ago was hard to digest, and he didn't know how to behave around the Hikari family anymore. To think it had been possible to turn a dying child into a navi, all this without anyone ever suspecting anything! Then again, who would? It was all too insane. Blues had told him it wouldn't change anything, but Enzan didn't see things as he did this time. Knowing that Rockman was once human—and Netto's twin—wasn't something insignificant. Of course it would change things! It meant that there was a new risk he had never calculated, for if it came to be known it would be a catastrophe for the small family, more than anything which had already happened to them. Meijin had been understanding, and himself tried his best, but not everyone would. 

Perhaps the twins would tell it to Meiru and Roll. After all, they were really close. After what had happened, it wouldn't be surprising if one of them tried to say something. At first, Enzan thought Netto would be the one wanting to reveal them the truth; he was the most impulsive after all. However, he finally settled on Rockman—or rather, Saito. It was his life which had been saved by this after all, and his brother would probably leave it up to him.

The door closed behind him, as he pulled out his PET out of its holster to look at the data sent by the NetPolice. Blues informed him of the current situation immediately, being as precise as he could on the parts he knew his operator would want to know about. Indeed, while Netcity was living a real nightmare, so had been SciLab. Criminal navis, although they displayed no signs of madness as the one infected by the maverick virus, had broken in its cyberworld and had stole many data. They had been taken by surprise, as a good part of the scientists was trying to solve the problem with the cloud so navis would be able to plug out, and it had taken several minutes for official netbattlers to come. Himself had been among the first to engage the fight, even though he had needed half an hour to arrive. However, it hadn't been enough to stop the half dozen of thieves finding what they were looking for. The only thing they could do now was figuring out what data they might have copied, hoping their tracks wouldn't have been covered too well. Unfortunately, however, they seemed to be.


	5. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They had been taken by surprise, as a good part of the scientists was trying to solve the problem with the cloud so navis would be able to plug out, and it had taken several minutes for official netbattlers to come. Himself had been among the first to engage the fight, even though he had needed half an hour to arrive. However, it hadn't been enough to stop the half dozen of thieves finding what they were looking for. The only thing they could do now was figuring out what data they might have copied, hoping their tracks wouldn't have been covered too well. Unfortunately, however, they seemed to be.

The news had fallen like a heavy stone, as they would have somehow never expected them. Things like this, they had seen it happen to others, but it had never really concerned them. But now? Of course, Blues had already been taken by their enemies, and Rockman had been almost deleted more times than they could count, but it had always ended well. Now… One of them had actually been deleted. 

The morning after Netcity's attack, both Meiru and Netto needed to relax. That was why they had decided to visit Dekao and Yaito, since it had been some time since the last day they had spent together. Indeed, the first one was following a special courses to become a chef and, although they were in the same junior school, they hadn't seen him a lot since he had to do an internship. As for Yaito, studying in an all girls school in a different city couldn't help. Thus, even though it was quite a rainy Saturday, Meiru had called them both to hang out with her and Netto in the early evening. 

Dekao was the last one to arrive, faking a smile in hope no one would ask him what was wrong; it was the last thing he wanted to think about. He knew he wasn't the smartest, but he could tell whether there was still hope or not: in this case, there wasn't. A part of him wanted to share the truth with someone, at least, but he had learned that his friends' navis had been stuck in Netcity too. Only… They had survived. And seeing them, happily standing on their operators' shoulders, it made him somewhat jealous for he could imagine the very moment the link to their PETs were re‑established. He could imagine the joy of Meiru and Netto when they had seen their navis had survived while he had been welcomed by a vision of horror. 

INTERNET NAVIGATOR DELETED 

DO YOU WISH TO USE A BACKUP FILE?

At first, it was so tempting. He wanted to do it, but running through the history files had made him open his eyes: the virus was responsible for this and, even though he wanted to click on the backup program, he wouldn't stand to see his navi gone a second time. Gutsman had to stay deleted. Temporally. His decision had been taken, he wouldn't bring back his navi before the end of this. He wouldn't let him be infected a second time. Of course, there was no way to know what Gutsman had been through once turned insane by the maverick virus, but Dekao didn't want him to live this again. He would wait. No matter how hard it was. 

However, his grief was obvious to his friends, as they all worried about him. He tried to tell them he was fine, but they never believed his lies. Eventually, Meiru voiced what they refused to ask: had Gutsman been deleted? They knew Dekao often sent him shopping for ingredients in the virtual city, hence… It wasn't impossible, if unreal. The answer came slowly, reluctantly. Both humans and navis suddenly realized that it didn't happen only to others, for it could happen to them too. Of course, they had been endangered many times in the past two years, but Netto and Rockman had been the only ones ever truly getting close to death or deletion on a more regular basis. Dekao looked at them, a feeling of jealousy awakening in his heart again: Gutsman and he would never have what they had. Of course, his navi was his friend, and he truly cared about him, but… he wasn't human. His personality was quite simple, his artificial intelligence less advanced than the ones of his friends' navis, and he was a too old program to be compatible with the RePloid 2.0 artificial intelligence that made navis more human by giving them the ability to decide by themselves along with a major personality upgrade. However, even then… Gutsman and he were old friends, but Netto and Rockman were like family. There was something he couldn't explain, a feeling that they cared like brothers more than like friends, as they somehow reminded him of how he cared for his own brother, Chisao. Perhaps it was due to how Rockman had been programmed by Netto's father, or it could have been his own imagination. However, he could see the link they had even outside of netbattles, and it was one of the reason he wanted to beat them.

Nobody noticed when Rockman disappeared from his PET while they were talking. Nobody noticed how many things betrayed the twins had played them. Nobody noticed that the aforesaid twins had a secret they wanted to share, but couldn't. Nobody noticed any of this once Dekao told them about Gutsman. The news were too shocking for them to think about something else. They tried to cheer up one another, to stay positive, but the truth was that they were scared. The idea of their navis being infected was far more terrifying than the one of seeing them get deleted, for they may have to delete them themselves.

*****

The file was ready to be used for the purpose he had created it for. He knew he wasn't supposed to have half of those encrypted data, for he had stolen them through manipulation. Everyone thought he was a bad liar, and it truly was the case when he lacked motivation. Facts were that he hated lying, so it often was what would betray him. Thanks to this, he was almost always above suspicions when he actually did. However, it didn't mean he would not be discovered; that was why he had left those files be the last ones he would retrieve. Now was the perfect moment, she would be there in a few minutes and nobody was around to interrupt them. When he saw the familiar silhouette, he closed all external connections: it was his only chance, and he was ready.

When Roll's eyes opened anew, she was surprised to feel herself being disconnected from her binding PET as all connections were cut. She looked around with wide eyes, searching for the one responsible of it. Her eyes met another pair of green irises, but their expression was unreadable. They weren't looking at her, and instead were fixing the ground. Roll felt her legs moving forward before she could even think about it, and her movement eventually drew the emerald eyes on her. And all she heard was a simple sentence, almost a murmur, once she was close enough to her friend.

_ ‘Roll, there's something… something I must…’ _ Rockman hesitated for a moment, choosing his words carefully. _ ‘I need to tell you.’ _

If she had been human, she would have felt her cheeks become warmer and her heart skip a beat; she had waited this moment for months, years even. However, instead of softly taking her hands, Rockman sat on the floor—something she had never seen him do before, something navis wouldn't do. She did the same, willing to stay at his level. Once again, he wasn't looking at her and was fiddling with his hands instead. Her enthusiasm soon became apprehension, as she knew it wasn't a "I love you" which would come out of his mouth. 

_ ‘It may change the way you see me, and…’ _ He bit his lower lip, making appear two windows in the PET. _ ‘But I have to tell you.’ _ He then unlocked the file in the first window without opening it, to let Roll look for the data inside. He took a deep breath, knowing she was waiting for an answer. _ ‘I am not really a navi…’ _

Roll couldn't understand what he had just said, for all he could be was a navi. His programming was clearly the one of a navi! It respected all the codes, he had all the abilities of a navi! Sure, he wasn't the same kind she was, but there was no way for him not to be one, was it? She looked at the file in the window in front of her, genuinely knowing Rockman was waiting for her to open it. It had no name, and she was somewhat afraid of what would be inside, but her hand touched the panel anyway. The file opened, revealing a few pictures and documents. Rockman remained silent, knowing she would understand he wanted her to look at what was inside the file, and so she did. Her finger touched the first image, letting it fill the virtual screen, and she smiled. The picture was of a mother and her children, a pair of identical boys with big grins as they were celebrating their third birthday. After a second, she gasped in surprise: she knew who the woman was. From then on, the picture simply made no sense at all, for she was sure one of the boys was Netto: who was this twin they had never heard about? She looked at Rockman, her eyes begging for a clear answer, but he never gave one. With a sliding movement, she switched for the next document: a birth certificate. Her eyes scanned through the information, linking them with the previous picture. So Netto had a twin, born roughly forty minutes before him, named Saito. However, the aforesaid twin had disappeared between their birth and their sixth birthday, for Meiru would have known him otherwise. Her curiosity triggered, she made the next document come onto the screen, only to be stabbed by a truth which she knew shouldn't have been a surprise. Written black on white, with an official signature at the bottom and dated from not even five years later, was the name Saito Hikari and, above, words she wanted to unsee: Certificate of death. Why would Rockman show her something like this?

She didn't noticed the hand which came to open the last document, an extract from a report written by Yuuichiro Hikari eight years earlier. Almost automatically, she read it. It wasn't official, by judging by the way it had been written, and she quickly understood why as she took cognizance of the content. It was insane, such a thing couldn't be true! Professor Hikari couldn't have saved his son's consciousness by sending it to the cyberworld! A child would have never survived there! 

She was called back to reality when she felt the execution of a particularly heavy program inside the PET, as she knew it should have frozen it. She looked aside, searching for Rockman, but it wasn't him she saw. Instead, a child was sitting cross‑legged next to her, looking down. His brown hair hid most of his face, but she could still recognize Netto—or, rather, she could recognize Saito. The memory of what Rockman had said then came back to her, as she finally understood what he had meant: ‘I am not really a navi…’. No, he wasn't. He was born human. He was…

_ ‘Saito?’ _

Saito jumped when hearing his name—his real name—staring at Roll with his brown eyes for a second, before looking away. _ ‘It's okay if you don't want to talk to me anymore, I mean… I would understand.’ _

He was interrupted by a hand in front of his mouth, as Roll moved to stand face to face with him. She gave him a smile, slowly taking back her hand, and spoke.

_ ‘What you showed me… It seems completely insane, but I believe you. And, you know, you're still Rockman; you're still my friend. Nothing will ever change that, Saito.’ _


	6. First move

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was interrupted by a hand in front of his mouth, as Roll moved to stand face to face with him. She gave him a smile, slowly taking back her hand, and spoke.  
‘What you showed me… It seems completely insane, but I believe you. And, you know, you're still Rockman; you're still my friend. Nothing will ever change that, Saito.’

In SciLab's cyberworld, a red and black netnavi wandered with weariness. There was nothing for him to do: no virus to bust, no Yuuichiro to annoy, and no twins to tease; only him and his solitude. 

Meijin. 

There was Meijin to have fun with. 

Axl grinned, ever since the young scientist had understood how Saito had used him to get an access to his father's files concerning the secret part of the navi project, Meijin had been quite paranoid about the professor learning about it. Especially since he had no idea of what the child had done with the pieces of information he had gotten and, if he was more mature than his brother, it didn't mean he couldn't do something completely stupid either. Then again, asking hadn't given him any clear answers—or any answer, actually. It wasn't that he hadn't tried, but it seemed that Saito was completely out of reach. And Axl knew how annoying his teasing on the subject was for Meijin.

It was playtime.

*****

In the past month, the virus had spread without anyone being able to stop it. Netcity had became a ghost town, and navis were rarely seen hanging in public places of the cyberworld. The threat was such that professor Hikari had forbidden his sons to try to fight it, too afraid of definitely losing Saito this time. Meijin knew it was probably no use, as the Rockman program had been completely fixed two weeks earlier: it was a miracle the twins weren't already in trouble. He sighed, slouching on his chair: there was no way to track down the mavericks. 

Since the attack on SciLab, they knew what were the stolen data, and it announced nothing good for what had been copied would probably be used to attack the physical world.

The materialization program: that was one of the things they had stolen. This program had been created with the combined data they had collected from the dimensional chips of the Darkloids, Rush, and Cache, and could be used to make a compatible navi appear in the real world for a few dozen of minutes. Since the copyroids wouldn't be allowed before a moment with what had happened, the program would be an alternative. However, Meijin knew why professor Hikari wanted to create such a thing, for it was the very same reason he had done a lot of thing: for his sons. Nevertheless, another program had been stolen and it wasn't less worrying: Axl's ultimate program, the copy program. 

Speaking of him, the teenager appeared on the screen with his usual grin.

_ ‘Hey, Meijin! Still working on the mysterious, highly secret, revolutionary project?’ _ The copynavi looked at the windows opened, and at the files in it. _ ‘No? Oh well, that can explain why I could access the computer.’ _

_ ‘Not now, Axl…’ _

_ ‘Not now Axl, go play somewhere else Axl…’ _ The redhead turned around, seeing Meijin wasn't in the mood for teasing and unwilling to be forcefully put in sleep mode. _ ‘You know what? You're no fun. I'll find the twins!’ _

_ ‘They're at school, you can't go there.’ _

_ ‘Pah!’ _ he exclaimed. _ ‘Of course, I can!’ _

_ ‘Axl, we're lucky the word didn't spread about Rockman being Megaman, so if the one of him being Saito could remain secret too, it would be for the best.’ _

_ ‘My mouth is forever closed about that.’ _ —Axl mimed a zipper on his mouth— _ ‘Hasta la vista, Meijin!’ _

With those words, the copynavi disappeared in a shower of pixels, reappearing next to Rockman in Netto's PET. From then on, Axl decided he would spend most of his time with the twins, since he had been created for that purpose anyway. However, this plan was foiled by the next raw of attacks of the mavericks, as he couldn't stay in the PET during crossfusion—apparently, his programming kept interfering even in sleep mode. 

What all SciLab had predicted eventually happened, and the mavericks used the materialization program to attack the real world even though they seemed to only have a few compatible navis. Of course, Yuuichiro did his best so his sons would be the last ones to run headfirst where the attacks occurred but, the twins being the twins, they often managed to get caught in the middle of the battle anyway.

Multiple attacks had been launched, apparently testing both the program and the netsaviors, until the mavericks decided to send their ultimate creation. They wouldn't get rid of Netto and Rockman yet, for they needed them to be alive for the next part of their plan. However, they would see their demise for sure—and it would be delightful.

*****

The dimensional area appeared around the junior school, as Netto was hidden in a closet. He inserted the synchro chip in his PET, and the data materialized around him. This time, it would be hard to go unrecognized for he would be surrounded by his classmates. However, he couldn't wait for another crossfusion member to show up—and he wouldn't, for he would never let people be hurt if he could intervene first. Battle faceplate on, he silently walked out of the closed: now was time to find that maverick. After a few minutes, Netto found him in the stadium, calmly waiting. Without thinking about it twice, and ignoring the warnings of his brother, the young netsavior engaged the fight. It was exhausting, for the navi seemed to have incredibly high hit points, and Rockman knew his brother would never be able to beat him.

_ ‘Hi _ ‑ _ Canon: triple slot _ ‑ _ in! Giga _ ‑ _ Canon!’ _As he heard Netto, Rockman realized the combination of battle chips so it could be used. 

The attack was easily avoided as the maverick used a area steal. Immediately, Netto decided to step back: if this maverick could use battle chips, then the battle would be far more dangerous. He frowned, knowing the plan he had was too risky for Rockman to be okay with. However, the navi was playing with them as if they were mere toys, and he had his limits.

_ ‘Rock, we need to try something else!’ _

_ ‘Mega, Netto… We're crossfused.’ _

_ ‘That's easy for you, you don't have to think about it!’ _

Netto jumped aside, avoiding a spread canon shot by a few inches. When he looked at his enemy, he saw him smiling as he prepared to fire again. 

_ ‘Soul chip: Searchsoul!’ _ Automatically, Rockman started to download the chip before stopping all of a sudden.

_ ‘But Netto!’ _

_ ‘Do it! Or we'll never beat this maverick!’ _

He hesitated, for he knew too well how stressful it would be for his brother's body. However, their enemy had stopped his attacks and was looking at them with what they supposed to be disdain instead.

_ ‘A maverick? Me? As if I would ever join those pathetic navis!’ _ He laughed as his default weapon replaced his spread canon. _ ‘They just proposed an offer I couldn't refuse!’ _ He aimed at Netto with a sadistic smile, ready to fire. _ ‘The opportunity to ruin your lives, Megaman and Lan!’ _

As the threat of seeing his brother being shot grew even more, Rockman finally downloaded the soul chip. The copied version of Searchman's default weapon immediately appeared on Netto's hand as he targeted their enemy. It was to who would shoot first—both fighters having suffered too much damage to keep on—and the lasers passed each other at an extreme speed, before touching their respective aims. Despite the pain in his shoulder, Netto looked up to see the deletion of the one who had attacked them.

_ ‘Now that you've defeated Vile, I suppose you're satisfied.’ _ Surprised, Netto turned around to see a white and purple navi behind him, smiling as he was talking. _ ‘For a moment, I thought you might have lost, but you played your part perfectly in the end.’ _

Before one of the twins could react, a white gloved hand reach for their crest. And there was pain—more than there already was. A burning pain which teared both their bodies apart. And darkness.

*****

_ ‘Netto? Netto!’ _ The voice started to panic. _ ‘Netto, please!’ _

Someone was calling him? Why? He knew that voice… Rockman? Was it time to wake up? No… It hurt too much. Right, the attack. He had been shot? No, it wasn't what was hurting. Or was it? His mind was confused, and the calls continuing. 

_ ‘Don't worry, Saito, he'll be fine.’ _

_ ‘But dad!’ _

_ ‘See, he's waking up.’ _

His vision started to come back, dark and blurry at first. He could feel the hand of his father on his arm, and he knew he would be fine. Little did he know it was because the maverick never intended to kill him. Little did he know they would decide to do so by the end of the year, a month later.

*****

Finally, Friday evening! Winter vacations could finally start! Walking out of junior school with Meiru, Netto was more than happy despite the rumors that Megaman had turned on the netpolice. Indeed, a usurper was probably running freely in town, but since SciLab was on it, there was nothing else he could do! Beside, it wasn't like if his identity was public or anything! He knew he should worry, and he would once the excitation of finally being on vacation would fade, but the idea of being out of the prison-like place that was school was far too delightful at the moment. Truth be told, however, his brother was much more worry: Dark Rockman might be gone, the memories weren't. Unfortunately, even Axl seemed not to care while he was squatting in his PET in the wait of being officially registered as a navi. Hence, Saito kept his worries for himself, unwilling to remind his brother they had some important problems on their hands in a moment where he wouldn't listen anyway.

However, before they could even leave the building, a dimensional area appeared above their heads. Immediately, Netto drew his PET out of his bag, where the teacher forced all students to put it, his previous grin replaced by a frown. Without even asking his brother, he called SciLab or, more precisely, Meijin.

_ ‘Mister Meijin!’ _

_ ‘I already told you not to be so formal,’ _ the young scientist sighed in his microphone.

_ ‘There's a dimensional area at school!’ _

_ ‘Wait, you said there was a maverick there.’ _ From his tone, it was obvious Meijin was worried as he was sure it was Netto who had called him to request a dimensional area.

As Netto was going to answer that he hadn't even called him, Meiru pulled him behind the lockers with herself so he would suffer no harm from the wall being smashed to pieces next to them. As the high-pitched noise in their ears faded, they heard screams—and a sound, familiar: the one of a buster.

_ ‘Synchro chip: slot _ ‑ _ in.’ _

It had been said so quietly, just so Rockman would hear and be prepared for the crossfusion and Axl would leave the PET, and Meiru truly realized what words Netto had spoke once she saw the familiar light of materializing data on his body. She could barely whisper to him to be careful before he rushed into battle. Hidden, she heard the rockbuster fire under the name of Megabuster as her childhood friend fought against what she supposed to be a maverick. After a few minutes, she heard Netto speak in the half destroyed room. 

_ ‘Eventually, I knew you would show up this way.’ _

No, it couldn't be Netto. The tone was too cold, the words too carefully chosen; her friend would have been more familiar. The usurper, she thought. Quietly, she called Rush, who reluctantly turn into her synchro chip when she asked him nicely as she explained to him what was going on. Sure, she wasn't an official and had no right to intervene, but her friend was in danger so she would break any law which kept her from saving him. 

As data materialized over her body, she felt it become stronger. The pink suit replaced her uniform with a dull light, switching it for an adapted version of Roll's leotard. As soon as she felt the faceplate she had yet never used materializing, she prepared to use Roll arrow on the enemy and jumped out of her hideout. Without thinking it twice, she shot on the Netto who was holding the other at gunpoint, running to help the one she knew was her friend. However, she wasn't expecting the area steal which their enemy used to take Netto away from her. When he was in sight once again, she couldn't tell which one was he usurper as they both tried to convince her they were her friend. Inside the PET, Roll knew of a solution to differentiate them but couldn't use it, helplessly trying to find another one with her operator. They needed something personal, but which would not give up Netto's identity! She wasn't Rockman, she couldn't come with random questions no one would know the answer to but Netto! She was too scared of being wrong! She tried, yet failed to find anything other than the idea already lingering on her mind. Perhaps… Perhaps it could work, voiced in such a way.

_ ‘Meiru, ask them who is the youngest between them.’ _

_ ‘What?’ _her operator asked in surprise.

_ ‘Trust me.’ _

It was risky, but she knew the twins were used to being asked this and answered almost immediately. Of course, they were tired of this redundant question which, when thinking about it, made no sense, but Roll was confident they would understand her plan—or that, at least, one of them would. Hesitantly, Meiry asked, only to be surprised when one of the Nettos answered it with a sigh almost right after she finished her sentence. 

_ ‘The silent one is the usurper, Meiru.’ _

However, before the young operator could aim, the usurper used a spread gun chip on her. Her lightweight figure was sent crashing in a wall nearby, almost knocking her out. When she raised her eyes, a scream of pain came covering Roll's calls as the usurper crushed Netto's crest with his bare hand. Meiru knew the synchro chip's self‑destruction process wouldn't activate in this specific context, professor Hikari had warned them all; if their crest was fully destroyed, the toll on their body and on their navi's data would be huge. She knew it was an euphemism, as she had seen the result before such measures were taken. She knew her friends might not make it out.

The almost lifeless body of Netto fell on the floor as she rushed for it, using her last forces. While she stood between him and their enemy, scared of having to use her own body as a shield, she waited for the pain which would soon overwhelm her. However, the blow never stroke, and the usurper smiled as he picked the almost completely destroyed PET. Without even looking at it, seeming to fix her in the eyes instead, he kept on smiling as the small device was reduced to pieces in his hand.

The dimensional area disappeared as Meiru was still watching in shock, her arms now tightened around the unconscious body of Netto, as her pink PET fell on the ground next to her.

*****

The error message flashed up on the screen in distinctive red capitals, as Meijin gave a look of worry to professor Hikari. The man seemed paralyzed, reading again and again the same three lines.

ERROR

CONNECTION INTERRUPTED

CAUSE: UNTRACEABLE DEVICE

However, the PET wasn't only untraceable. They had heard it being destroyed. They had seen the alarm signals flocking, warning them of the imminent destruction of the materialized crest. And they had been helpless. He had been helpless. Unable to help his sons, he had only been able to hear their pain. And suddenly, a call. A small glimmer of hope. 

_ ‘Yuu!’ _

Coming from the PET tight to his belt, Axl's voice broke the loud silence. Slowly pulling it out of its holster, Yuuichiro discovered the feverish navi with a heap of shapeless data in his hands. A light turned on in his mind as he recognized a familiar symbol among the bugs, and soon panic and fear followed. He didn't care anymore if people noticed, he was going to lose his son for sure if he didn't stabilize him. Calling Meijin, he ran to his own office and plugged in both Axl and the corrupted frame of Saito. The younger scientist followed, unsure of what to do but ready to help.

As he scanned through his son's code, Yuuichiro rationalized his own attitude. Netto would live, the toll on his body would be heavy, but he would live. Meiru would call an ambulance and he would be taken to an hospital. He would be hurt, but he would be alive. There was nothing more he could do. However, he was the only one who could save Saito. The relief of seeing the data from Pulse transmission were intact quickly was replaced by the emergency of stabilizing the progressive corruption of his son's program. The frame had been completely corrupted, and barely fifteen percent of the DNA data were still readable. If he didn't stabilize him in the next minutes, there would be nothing left to save. Panic started to overwhelm his senses as he realized there was no way he could stop Saito from dying, as he had nothing to reconstruct the DNA data in time. Memories from eight years ago flooded back, memories from when he felt incapable of finishing the project which could save his son's life in time. Memories from when he had felt completely powerless both as a scientist, and as a father.

Behind Yuuichiro, Meijin tried to find a solution, but he needed the professor to do so. Hadn't he used Netto's DNA to fix Saito's when the crest had been damaged during crossfusion? Sure, he had done so, but the damages were far less consequent and Netto hadn't been too hurt either. Fine, they had to find something else. The idea imposed itself as an evidence: the second project. For the first time since its beginning, the unspoken rule of never naming it was broken: the cloned body could provide the genetic material they needed.

There was a second of indescribable hope, before Yuuichiro realized it was impossible to synchronize this mindless puppet with his son. Meijin thought the professor would give up, as they had ran out of solutions, but the man stood up and rushed to the room where the project was hidden. Before his cadet could even join him, he came back with a small necklace with the Hikari's family crest on it and plugged out Saito using it, before going back to the project. This time, Meijin followed, afraid the professor was doing what he thought he was doing.

_ ‘Wait, professor Hikari! You can't _ — _ ’ _

_ ‘It's the only thing which can save him!’ _

Meijin saw him get the body out of the pod, and even helped him. He could see how desperate the professor was, how afraid he was of losing his son once again. As soon as the clone was lying on the metallic table, Yuuichiro put the necklace in contact with the skin of the yet mindless body. And there was a scream. A scream of pure agony which echoed in the room. It lasted ten seconds: an eternity. And then, nothing. Only the heavy silence.

And a breath.

A painful, labored breath.

There was life.


	7. Recovery needs time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And there was a scream. A scream of pure agony which echoed in the room. It lasted ten seconds: an eternity. And then, nothing. Only the heavy silence.  
And a breath.  
A painful, labored breath.
> 
> There was life.

The beeping of the monitor was all which could be heard in the small room. Short beeps imitating the rhythm of heartbeats, the rhythm of his son's heartbeats. Slow, yet regular; it was all that mattered. Tired eyes looked at the man wearing a white coat, pleading him to say something. Those eyes wanted to know whether their unconscious child would live or not, they wanted to know if, by trying to save him, they had taken his life. The blond man turned toward them, fixed them. His expression was calm, but his lips were slightly pressed together before he decided to speak.

_ ‘The body seems perfectly functional, even though his heart rate is still a little higher than it should be.’ _ He paused, looking at his old friend in the hope of seeing his worries vanish. _ ‘I think it is safe to get him out of the pod, but I'd like to wait one or two days to be sure.’ _

_ ‘You know what to do better than me, Mikhail.’ _ The voice was docile, almost submissive. The one it belonged to was exhausted, both physically and mentally, and he had no energy left to contest. _ ‘If he's still alive, it's only thanks to you. I'm sorry I made you travel all this—’ _

_ ‘You're wrong.’ _ Mikhail's eyes were cold, focused, as he cut his friend. _ ‘You are the one who made the impossible to save your son, I barely provided some help.’ _

Yuuichiro remained silent for a few seconds, before looking at the floor with a sad expression. He knew Mikhail had provided more than just some help, even though he lacked the strength to argue against him. His domain was cybersciences, not biology and even less biomechatronics. There was no way he could have saved his son without him this time. 

There was no way he could have saved his son without him the first time either.

Mikhail was only trying to make him feel better.

Yet, he knew he had made the situation worse and it was only thanks to luck both his sons were still alive. Not thanks to him. Because, once again, he wasn't with them when they needed him most. Had he only ever been? He was starting to doubt it. No, it was no time to dwell on his failures. Not when he had to be there for his sons, not when… When what? 

_ ‘You know, I never thought they would have to fight for their lives… Both of them.’ _ His voice broke, shattering into nothing more than a whisper. _ ‘I didn't know what to do, and… I wasn't even there when all this started.’ _

_ ‘Yuu,’ _ Mikhail interrupted before his friend could lament even more, _ ‘you are not to blame for this. You did what you could so they would be as safe as possible, even if it meant you had to let them run into danger so you could at least look out for them. Things would have been worse if you had tried to keep them safe from harm, believe me: I made this mistake with Forte.’ _

Forte. The one who had felt abandoned. Abandoned because he thought his creator, his father, had left him. Because he couldn't see him. Because he hadn't show up when he needed him.

_ ‘I need to see Netto.’ _

_ ‘No. What you need is some sleep.’ _ The blond man gave a look at his watch, sighing. _ ‘Besides, it's past visiting hours. You'll go tomorrow, with Haruka.’ _

*****

The next day, a gray car parked in front of the hospital as the winter's sun was at its zenith. The same car came at the same hour the following day, and the one after. Everytime, two people would come out of it and walk into the hospital, before making their way back to the car. Everytime, they would spend at least an hour at their son's bedside, waiting for the day a nurse would come and tell them they would wake him up. After those three days, the car remained unseen for two zeniths on the parking lot, before resuming its routine. However, there would often only be one person who could be seen walking in and out of the hospital. 

Indeed, Netto had been more wounded than they had first thought. His father had learned it the first time he had come to the hospital, right after his son was taken out of the operating room. His left arm's bones had been broken by the tight grip of the maverick, and doctors had to fix them. However, the rest of his body hadn't been left outdone either, as the X‑Rays had shown multiple stress fractures mainly on his legs and ribs. The destruction of the crest had caused such a stress to his body that doctors had decided to keep him unconscious so they would be able to speed up his recovery without him being in pain all the time. His parents had never blessed all the progress made in medicine so much since it had failed them with Saito. Nevertheless, even though Netto's body would have recovered enough for him to walk after two weeks, thanks to the fact of him being a netsavior and a crossfusion member which gave him access to this technology, it would still be painful.

A few day after the beginning of the new year, a PET rang in the Hikari household. Almost immediately, Yuuichiro picked up under the quiet surveillance of his wife. The name of a now familiar place was displayed onto the holographic screen, as a voice spoke.

_ ‘Hello, this is Seasides Hospital. Is this Yuuichiro Hikari?’ _ As soon as she got a confirmation, the receptionist pursued. _ ‘We call to tell you Netto Hikari has woken up, and has been asking for his family.’ _  


*****

The door opened slowly, as Yuuichiro took a few steps in the hospital room. Lying in the bed, Netto heard him and turned his head to see. He was dizzy, probably because of morphine, or maybe it was that feeling bad news were to come. He had tried to stay optimistic, but he remembered his crest being broken; he knew Saito had been endangered too. The crest had already been damaged once, and his brother's data had been corrupted far more than his body had been harmed. He shivered at the thought, but quickly focused on his father once again. His eyes were begging for answers, but he wasn't sure he wanted them. Yuuichiro calmly took a chair in the corner of the room, placing it next to Netto's bed, and sat in silence. His head low, as if ashamed of something. In his hands, a small blue device reflected the sunlight coming from the window. It was new, too new to be the one Netto had used during crossfusion. Too new to be his PET.

_ ‘Meijin and I made you a new one, since yours was destroyed by the maverick. I couldn't retrieve your data, though.’ _

_ ‘And Rockman?’ _

Netto's eyes were full of fear, for he knew that if the PET had been destroyed with his brother inside… Yuuichiro tried to stay calm: he knew what he had to say. Only… He had no idea of how to say it.

_ ‘Axl took him out of your PET just in time, and we could fix him at SciLab. Mostly…’ _ It was the word he wasn't supposed to say. Of course, Saito's data had been stabilized and his frame had been almost entirely remodeled with an uncorrupted version of his DNA, but the degradation would resume once back in the cyberworld. He needed time, and so did Netto. _ ‘However, you won't be able to use Rockman for a while, so Axl will replace him.’ _ He saw the worries in his son's eyes, and realized he couldn't avoid telling him the truth longer. _ ‘Before, I tell you… I wanted for you to find about this another way, it should have been a surprise… Not… Not a last resort.’ _

_ ‘Dad, what are you talking about?’ _

_ ‘Your mother should come in soon, with Saito. You'll see.’ _ He looked down, smiling a little. _ ‘He has been asking to come for more than a week…’ _

Not even a minute after Yuuichiro finished his sentence, someone knocked on the door. As her husband told her they could come in, Haruka opened the door with a bright smile. Before Netto could even see his mother, his father saw the fragile silhouette gripping her arm to walk. As she saw the stare Yuuichiro gave her, she let out a laugh.

_ ‘He refused to use the wheelchair, you know how stubborn he can be when it comes to this!’ _

When Yuuichiro's eyes met the ones of his son, they widen of seeing the look on his face. This expression, he had seen Netto wearing it many times, but he couldn't recall Saito looking at him this way. He was smiling, but not the soft kind of smile he usually had. His eyebrows were slightly frowned, darkening his ordinarily light brown eyes. It was the look of someone who had decided they were able to do something, and was determined to prove anyone who thought otherwise wrong. However, Yuuichiro could see the pain behind this air of defiance; a pain Saito could barely hide.

Saito's body wasn't ready, not yet. It was supposed to go through another year of physical stimulation before being used, and was extremely weak, but it would have to do. Nine days in the real world weren't enough, it would take more to make the body strong enough to even walk, and even more for everything else. Yet, he trusted his son to make it the fastest possible. Actually, he trusted both of them on this. Now that Netto was awake, Saito would undoubtedly refuse to ever use the wheelchair again unless it was a necessity—and even then, it would probably not be of his own accord. Yuuichiro sighed, there was at least a good side to all this: it made the cover story for Saito even more believable.

The door eventually finished opening, as Netto's eyes laid on his twin. For a second, he thought it was a dream, but it was too real to be one. Yet, Saito was here. In the real world. In the same world. As their eyes met, the expression of the elder soften as he let go of their mother's sleeve to join his brother. Immediately, Haruka caught her staggering son so he wouldn't fall and carefully accompanied him to the bed. Netto waited, wondering if he would wake up only to hear his brother's voice coming from the PET. No, it had to be real, no matter how incredible it was. He wanted him to be here. He wanted it to be their reunion in this world, for he had already dreamed it too many times.  


*****  


_ ‘Today, mavericks attacked Japan once again. The netsavior Chaud Blaze took care of them, but twenty _ ‑ _ four victims are to mourn. Half of the Great Tokyo's mall was destroyed in the process. The damages are estimated to almost 160 million yens, and repairs will probably take months. Families of the victims _ — _ ’ _

The screen turned black as Haruka heard steps in the stairs. She sighed in relief when she heard two men talking, and not her sons. She didn't want them to hear the news, although they would probably learn about it anyway. She had almost lost them both because of those mavericks and she feared they would run head first into danger as soon as there would be another attack. Although her husband may have made sure the netpolice wouldn't contact them unless it was an extreme necessity, she knew they had never needed to be netsaviors to get involved. It had only been a way to keep them safer, to have a little control on them... Coming from upstairs, Yuuichiro and Mikhail joined her in the living room, sitting with her.

_ ‘Your son is in perfect health.’ _ Mikhail smiled as he noticed Haruka's relief. _ ‘The brain implants are functioning perfectly, and so is the transfer to and from the cyberworld.’ _

_ ‘And his data? Are they stable?’ _

_ ‘Don't worry Haruka, I've already told you they were.’ _ Yuuichiro leaned closer to his wife. _ ‘I've checked, and they still are. I've told them it is fine if Saito goes back to the cyberworld, as long as they do it while he's at home.’ _

_ ‘We also have asked him to stay in the real world as much as he can, since the body was taken out of the pod before it was supposed to be used, your son will have to prepare it himself.’ _

Mikhail took note of Haruka's worried expression, realizing she was afraid of something happening to her twins. However, before he could even start another sentence, an energy ball rushed down the stairs. And reproach could be heard.

_ ‘Netto! Don't run!’ _ a voice warned form the PET. _ ‘Your arm is still in plaster!’ _

_ ‘It's okay, Saito!’ _Netto laughed, ignoring the stinging pain in his limbs as he ran to the entrance.

_ ‘It's Rockman!’ _

Haruka muffled a laugh, despite her worries for her children. She already knew where they were going, or, at least, she had an idea. At her side, Yuuichiro sighed as Mikhail gently slapped his back; he should have expected it, after all. Netto's voice rose from the entrance, as he left the house in a hurry.

_ ‘Mom, dad! We're out to see Meiru!’ _

The door slammed behind him, and Haruka could literally feel the smile of contentment her husband was wearing. She smiled too, also feeling the chemistry between her son and the red‑haired girl. However, she wasn't actively trying to make them get closer either, contrary to a certain someone… There was no need to rush anything: after all, it had taken up to six years for Yuuichiro and she to get together. Meiru was obviously waiting for Netto to do something, once it would be done, things would flow naturally. 

She was probably not expecting her twins to pay her a visit, as she had come back from a week visiting her family in Amerope barely three hours earlier. Haruka knew she would have stayed if her parents had left her the choice, as she had come to see Netto almost every day while he was kept unconscious by the doctors. She even had come to Scilab a few times to ask about Rockman, for what Yuuichiro had told her, even if Roll had visited even more. However, Aria, her mother, had insisted for her to come see her family once they knew Netto would be fine; her daughter needed to change air, she had told her. Even though Haruka herself would have prefered Meiru to stay, as a mother she knew she would have done the same. She then heard the TV turn on, surprised to see a familiar black and red copynavi on the screen with an expression of weariness. 

_ ‘Hey, Yuu? I must go with them?’ _

_ ‘Yes, that what I've asked you. To keep an eye on them.’ _

_ ‘Actually, you asked me to play the babysitter when Saito's in your world…’ _ the netnavi said, rolling his eyes.

_ ‘Axl, please.’ _

With a soft expression, Haruka spoke before her husband could. She knew exactly how to convince the teenage navi to do the task he had been entrusted with, for having raised twins helped a lot in those situations. Of course, Yuuichiro had taken care of Saito more than her in the past years, but it didn't mean she was never there.

_ ‘If Yuuichiro register you as an official navi, would you please keep an eye on them?’ _

_ ‘Now asked like that…’ _ Axl seemed thoughtful for a second, before giving her a big grin as he disappeared from the screen. _ ‘Okay! But I still ain't a babysitter!’ _

The young copynavi appeared in the PET, next to Saito—or, rather, Rockman at the time—as Netto ringed at the front door of his childhood friend. A red‑haired women opened, and her eyes widened as she saw the boy standing on her threshold.

_ ‘Netto? What a surprise! You look a lot better!’ _ Aria opened the door wider, to let the boy enter. _ ‘Please, come in.’ _ She then turned toward the stairs, calling for her daughter. _ ‘Meiru! Guess who's here?’ _

A minute after, a young girl showed up in the living room. Her hazel eyes popped open, before the corner of her mouth rose as she saw Netto waiting for her. Carefully, yet strongly, she hugged him tight. She was so happy to see him awake, out of this awful hospital bed. Reflecting the actions of her operator, Roll transferred to Netto's PET with great joy. Both were more than relieved to see their friends alright, especially since they couldn't see them in almost a week, yet Roll knew something was kept hidden by the twins. She had been suspecting it for a while, before Netto even woke up. Back then, she had received the first mail from Rockman since his programming had been fixed. Everything seemed perfectly normal, but each time she had asked to see him, whether by coming or inviting him, she had met with a strict refusal. Being a netnavi, she had no way to physically find his PET to get the answers she was craving for, but it didn't mean she wouldn't investigate. She had tried everything she had been able to think about, from simply trying to make her friend talk to interrogating Axl: nothing worked. She recalled Meiru had mentioned movement in the spare room of Netto's house, but it could as well have been the doctor Cossack with whom she had seen Netto's father talk. Thus, despite her efforts, the pink navi had nothing. However, although the temptation to ask was great, she kept her mouth shut and enjoyed the moment.

The five of them spent the afternoon together, in the warmth of Meiru's house. A little apart from the others, Axl wondered how the twins would manage to tell the truth to their friend, for he was sure they would tell them first. Actually, he suspected Roll of already knowing about Rockman being Saito, but the elder twin had managed to reveal this to her while neither Netto nor him were around. He sighed, Meiru knew nothing and he was sure of it: even though they had been forced to tell her about the corruption of Rockman's frame and his copying abilities, she was still far from the truth.

He looked at Roll while she was happily talking with Saito, and couldn't ignore her will to ask him why he had been so avoidant up till now. She said nothing, of course, and was hiding it the best she could. Axl figured out she was probably waiting for a better moment, when her operator wouldn't be around. He smiled: she would probably ask him the next day, at school. Little did she know she wasn't going to grasp a sight of Saito in the school's cyberworld before a while, and would have to deal with him instead.


	8. In the heart of the city

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He looked at Roll while she was happily talking with Saito, and couldn't ignore her will to ask him why he had been so avoidant up till now. She said nothing, of course, and was hiding it the best she could. Axl figured out she was probably waiting for a better moment, when her operator wouldn't be around. He smiled: she would probably ask him the next day, at school. Little did she know she wasn't going to grasp a sight of Saito in the school's cyberworld before a while, and would have to deal with him instead.

His knees hit the wooden floor hard, bruises already showing it had happened many times. It hurt. He wasn't used to this, not anymore. His arms were shaking, as he stayed on the floor to catch his breath. He knew he probably wanted to make things go too fast for him, but he couldn't stand being so weak. He loved this world, he loved being with his family without having to leave his friends, but he missed moving with ease. He missed the sensation of running, the shiver of netbattling… He missed being a navi. Just a navi. 

The door of the room opened, letting him catch a glimpse of his mother's face in the gap. Haruka then came near him, kneeling to be at his height. She smiled softly, offering her son a hand.

_ ‘That's enough for this morning. Let's eat something now.’ _

As the meal went on, Haruka suggested going to Densan City with her to Saito. He needed to go outside, she said, even if it would be tiring. Although he was reluctant at first, the elder twin eventually gave in to her arguments—not that she would let him refuse anyway. In the middle of the afternoon, they would never come across someone who knew Netto or him and the temperature wouldn't become too chili. Moreover, they wouldn't walk too much so he would be able to keep up. Besides, she promised they would come back as soon as he would start to be tired.

*****

Through the screen inside his PET or as an hologram on Netto's shoulder, the city seemed huge. However, it was nothing compared to the actual feeling of being inside of it. Noises coming from everywhere, lights always switching on and off, crowds of people walking down the street, smells mixing… It was wonderful, frightening, exhausting. Too much. It was too much. Although the cyberworld could be extremely active, it was always calm and organized compared to this giant mess of humans and vehicles surrounding him. Haruka felt Saito's grip on her sleeve tighten, and took him somewhere quieter where there were benches for him to rest a little.

_ ‘Do you want to go back to the car?’ _ She sounded concerned, and the expression on her face showed she was. However, she also knew Saito would tell her if something was wrong.

Her son shook his head, before letting out a sigh. He knew he wasn't exactly left with a choice: if he wanted to spend time in this world, he had to do with both its pros and cons. He figured out he would probably grow used to them, as he had become used to those of the cyberworld. Besides, Saito wanted to see what it looked like from this side of the mirror. During the three weeks he had spent around the house, he had seen everything there was to see there and was curious about the outside. Sure, he was still worried about meeting people, especially those he already knew. The boy wondered if someone would notice he was, indeed, Rockman. Of course, his parents had made sure the fact that they had never talked about him seemed legit somehow, and Netto had already unintentionally hinted his presence a few times, but he couldn't help thinking people would notice. Then again, Roll would immediately understand as soon as she would see him, and Meiru was really likely to find out too; he was mentally prepared for this—or so did he thought. However, for the others… Haruka's voice brought him back to reality, as he realized she was waiting him.

Mother and son spent two hours getting some shopping done, as well as visiting places around. Saito quickly understand why his mother had been so insisting with him coming with her: she had planned to get him clothes among other necessities. Indeed, even though he was almost the same height as Netto, he didn't always need the same size of clothing. Besides, Haruka had decided she wouldn't choose all of them for him! And, to be honest, Saito wasn't sure he had ever done something more boring before… The young boy felt more than relieved when she told him they would use online shopping next times, since he would at least know which fabrics he liked.

After what felt like an eternity, both of them were finally back to the car. Saito remembered hearing the engine start, then things faded to black. As she noticed her sleeping son, Haruka smiled and looked at the clock: he would probably hate her for this at first, but she knew better and turned at the next intersection to take a route which was surely not the one to go back to their home.  
  


*****  
  


The bell was a call for freedom, as the class soon emptied at its sound. All his pens and papers already packed up, Netto was impatiently waiting for Meiru. The red‑haired girl calmly closed her bag, more than used to her friend's behavior by then. As she put on her coat, she noticed Netto looking at his PET with his eyebrows frowned. When he saw her eyes fixed on him, he shrugged his shoulder and put it back in its holster as Axl apparently awakened from the nap he had decided to take although he didn't need it. Of course, he had taken the appearance of Rockman, but Meiru could now differentiate them easily—not that Axl was even trying to fake Rockman's behavior with her anymore. Apparently, the blue navi had to help professor Hikari for a project, a project on which Netto refused to give her information.

_ ‘Mom just sent me a message. She's at school, with a… surprise?’ _ He took back his PET to reread the message, as unsure of the content, and winced when he felt the pain in his right arm. However, he still got the device out of its holster with this very arm, enjoying the fact that it was finally free from the plaster he had had for the past weeks.  _ ‘She asks you to come too.’ _

_ ‘If that's the kind of surprise I'm thinking about, it's gonna be fun!’ _ Axl then appeared on Netto's shoulder, deciding to be a part of what he knew would be a memorable moment. If Haruka had decided to take Saito outside and managed to trick him to come there as he thought she had, it would definitely be worth it!

Even though both Meiru and Netto tried to force the copynavi to tell them what it probably was, Axl was too excited at the idea of seeing their faces once they would join Haruka to let any detail leak. He urged them to walk to the small parking lot, eager to get there. As they were approaching the familiar gray car, they saw Haruka trying to get someone out of the passenger seat. While Roll refrained herself of showing any sign of a disturbance she knew she wasn't supposed to feel, Netto barely processed what he was seeing as Meiru wondered what they both had. When she focused on the one getting out of the car—quite reluctantly—her expression froze whereas Axl burst out laughing. She looked at Netto, then at the copy, as to make sure she wasn't seeing double. 

_ ‘Hey, Saito! Good to see you out!’ _ Axl laughed, wiping away a tear he couldn't cry.

The child shyly waved a hello at his friends, unsure of how to act. He was barely awake, and couldn't even clearly figure out where he was in this world. Of course, he was now used to the feeling of total ignorance when he couldn't access data he would have normally immediately search on the internet, but it didn't mean it didn't make him nervous. Without the automatic access to the general database, he was somewhat left aside from the cyberworld. Just as a human… Which he still was, at some point. He refrained a step back when his eyes met the ones of a certain pink navi; the emotion in them was one he couldn't recognize, a mix of multiple feelings with which he didn't know how to deal.

Of course, both Netto and he knew what they were supposed to say, what was the official version of their story, but it didn't mean they felt ready. Moreover, with Roll knowing the truth, it made it even more difficult for Saito. He would have to explain to her, and he was sure she would feel as if he didn't trust her enough… But he did! It was just so new, and unexpected, and unreal, and… and... He didn't know how to even approach the subject.

_ ‘We were in town, so I thought I could give you a lift home.’ _ Haruka genuinely smiled, and then faked surprise.  _ ‘Meiru didn't know? I thought you'd have told her, Netto.’ _ Before her son could even think of an answer, she turned back to her car.  _ ‘Everyone on the back seats, there's a cake waiting for you!’ _

She seemed unusually excited, exulting at a moment she had been waiting for so long, as she drove home. In the meantime, Netto and Saito answered more or less easily Meiru's questions, with an occasional help from Axl. They stuck to the story their parents had prepared for them, almost reciting a lie they had learned by heart. Both knew they would have to tell her the truth, eventually, but they weren't ready yet. 

Inside her PET, Roll listened to the fake lives which had been written for them. She linked the altered events with the real ones, taking note of what she would be able to say without risking Saito's life. Indeed, she might be somewhat mad at him for not telling her anything, but she knew how delicate the situation was. He seems so fragile, so weak… He wasn't the Rockman she was used to. Actually, for the world, he wasn't Rockman at all, and he would never be. Still, when she had seen him in the cyberworld, even with his real appearance, he seemed far healthier. The pink navi shook her head, her friend was probably fine. However, it intrigued her his body was so frail: a copyroid would have had the same shape Saito had in the cyberworld. Perhaps it was to make the cover story more realistic, then? No, even this seemed off. Roll refrained the urge to ask, keeping on listening quietly to the conversation she couldn't bring herself to participate in. 

As for Meiru, she continued talking with a smile. To her, Saito was only Netto's twin who had been ill for years of the very illness her friend had to do check ups for. He was only the one who was rarely mentioned to anyone so people wouldn't pity their family, or so nobody would think of using him as a mean to get something from either Yuuichiro or Netto. It made sense, somehow, even though it could seem a little extreme at first sight: when Saito had contracted HBD, no cure had yet been found, and it was a miracle he had survived long enough to benefit from the one which had later been discovered. Even though, his body was already extremely weak and the treatment had to last for years not to weaken it even more. She looked by the window for a second, wondering if she would have been able to be away from her family like this, to rarely see them face to face instead of through a screen. Of course, she rarely saw most of her family living in Amerope, but at least she could see her parents almost every day. However, Saito seemed truly familiar, as if she had already seen him; Meiru shook her head: it was probably because he and Netto looked so alike.


	9. Even legends fail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She looked by the window for a second, wondering if she would have been able to be away from her family like this, to rarely see them face to face instead of through a screen. Of course, she rarely saw most of her family living in Amerope, but at least she could see her parents almost every day. However, Saito seemed truly familiar, as if she had already seen him; Meiru shook her head: it was probably because he and Netto looked so alike.

Copyroids could eat a little. Copyroids had a dull sense of taste. Copyroids could fake breathing. Copyroids could look realistic enough to be mistaken for humans. Copyroids could be created a life to be mistaken for humans. Copyroids had been forbidden by the law. Copyroids could still be secretly built by Yuuichiro Hikari.

But copyroids could not go through a medical check‑up without raising some alarms.

Copyroids couldn't be sick.

The white and purple netnavi smiled: Rockman had been deleted, he was now sure of it. Of course, the copynavi kept on covering the facts, but he wasn't able to crossfuse with Netto Hikari. Then again, it was a shame the human counterpart of the duo had survived, although he was nothing more than a bug without his netnavi. However, the existence of his twin could be an opportunity as there was no way this pathetic child could defend himself. He wouldn't kill him, not yet. As long as he didn't oppose a threat, there was no use to do so and it would only bring unwanted attention. Nevertheless, he would use him. There was a glint of madness in his golden eyes: his plan was flawless.

Three weeks later, the same maverick looked at the unconscious body of the human child. Finally, the stupid human had gone somewhere alone without this damn PET of his! He let the stolen DNA change his shape, turning it into the one of the young operator he had knocked out. He hesitated before leaving the child, for he would awake at some point. Of course, with his hands and feet tied as they were, and the gag on his mouth, he wouldn't be able to oppose a threat. Then again, he wondered why the orders specified not to kill him this time, for it would have made things easier for their plan. 

_ ‘Are you ready, Lumine?’ _ The voice came from a small device in the usurper's hand.

_ ‘Am I ready? Of course. This time, those Hikaris won't get through this so easily’ _

With those words, Lumine walked out of the closet, closing it behind him. He put on an expression which wasn't his, before joining a group of children waiting in the netbattling arena of the mall. Everything was just as it should be.

*****

Inside Netto's PET, Axl sighed: faking Rockman's behavior without copying Saito's was exhausting. Hopefully, Roll had helped him the most she could, but it was still more complicated than he'd have first thought. Ever since the pink navi had been explained the situation by Saito, she had tried her best to help. Of course, he knew how strange it might be for her to see her best friend as a human instead of a navi, but she had been so genuinely happy for him! Axl wished he had been there to see the actual explanation, but the elder twin had insisted to do it by himself, and only Netto had been allowed to come to give some additional details after he had already explained almost everything. Since then, they hadn't told anyone else. Actually, perhaps the fact even their father had no idea the pink navi knew the truth didn't help it... However, the fact that Saito was such a bad operator when it came to netbattles had almost gave away that Axl wasn't Rockman, mostly because the copynavi hadn't the same divine patience. Then again, Saito would have been able to do much better if he had been used to insert battle chips, or even if he knew of the order Netto used to put them in. Nevertheless, he was at ease when it came to be the one battling while following his operator's plan, not when the situation was put upside down!

Thus, when Netto came back, both Saito and Axl were surprised he didn't slightly mocked his brother's lack of skill. Of course, they weren't the only ones, as Meiru, Roll, and Dekao also noticed his lack of reaction. However, when Netto refused a netbattle because he "didn't feel like it", it raised some suspicions among the small group. Even Dekao, who was the only who had yet to learn about Axl, could tell something was off, but they wouldn't get the chance to question Netto's strange behavior.

Screams rose from the mall as people started to flee. In a matter of seconds, the peaceful day of winter turned into another nightmare. In the netbattling arena, the group of friends exchanged looks, wondering what to do. Sure, they weren't exactly left with many options, but all the secrets they had kept only made it harder to take a decision. Dekao looked at Netto, waiting for him to crossfuse, only to be met with eyes full of a mix of sadness and shame.

_ ‘I can't crossfuse without Rockman…’ _

_ ‘What are you talking about, he's in your PET ?’ _As Dekao said so, Meiru gave a worried look to the mall. She knew it was Axl in the PET, instead of Rockman, and Netto would have to wait for his navi to come back to him if he wanted to crossfuse.

_ ‘He's not Rockman.’ _ The young operator took the small device out of its holster. _ ‘Axl's only copying his appearance and abilities.’ _ As Dekao's eyes widen, Netto looked down. _ ‘Rockman… has been deleted. More than a month ago. _’

Before Netto could even look up, his PET was snatched from him. He looked at Saito in surprise, not expecting such a brash action from the ordinarily so calm child. There was something in his eyes, a glint he couldn't yet identify… Something which was telling him things would not go as he had expected. 

_ ‘Where is Netto?’ _ His tone betrayed no fear, although the one he was feeling was real. _ ‘What have you done to him?’ _

_ ‘What are you talking about? Saito! You know it's me!’ _

The elder twin gave no answer, for he knew who was the one standing in front of him, and he wasn't the only one. Surrounded by two mavericks, with only Meiru able to crossfuse, there was no way they would make it out without some help. The only thing he could do was to make sure neither Meiru nor Dekao would be hurt in the meantime, but he wasn't Rockman, not at this moment. He was almost perfectly human. He was vulnerable, more than he had ever been for years. This world was his, but not as much as the cyberworld anymore, not yet. The maverick in front of them, this usurper… He hadn't decided to attack yet, but he surely would in no time.

Just as his brother had done so many time, Saito called SciLab with a familiar sentence.

_ ‘Mister Meijin, we need a dimensional area at Densan's mall! And Enzan's help!’ _

*****

_ ‘Battle chip: variable sword!’ _

With this final strike, the massive maverick disappeared from the real world. His opponent now logged out, Enzan could finally look out for the usurper. Meijin hadn't been able to give him a lot of information on the current situation, for himself didn't really know what was happening. All they were sure of was that Rockman was the one who had requested the dimensional area, and that the usurper had taken Netto's place. 

_ ‘Roll Arrow!’ _ Meiru's voice yelled. _ ‘I'll hold him back! Find Netto!’ _

Immediately, Enzan headed to the place her voice was coming from the fastest he could. When he finally reached her, Meiru was resisting the usurper with difficulty. Without thinking about it twice, the young netsavior jumped into action. It was all they could do: fight and hope it would be enough. And fighting they did. They fought until the maverick had to give up his copied form. They fought until they ran out of battle chips. They fought until Saito found his brother.

He and Dekao had been separated, or rather he had separated himself from Dekao. As much as he hated hiding him the truth, he wasn't ready to tell him either. To be honest, they weren't even really close. Sure, Gutsman was his friend, but it didn't mean he knew his operator very well. After ten minutes looking for Netto when he had no idea of where he could be, his legs were starting to be sore. He took a second to catch his breath: maybe he should slow down and stop running around like he would have done in the cyberworld. He should, but he wouldn't: his brother had to be somewhere! 

_ ‘Eh Saito, maybe we should check the bathroom again.’ _ A voice rose from the PET which was his and not his at the same time. _ ‘We could've missed something. And that's where Netto was supposed to go… But I'm just saying!’ _

_ ‘Dekao checked it too, and he saw nothing.’ _

_ ‘No offence, but well… That's Dekao.’ _ Still under the appearance of Rockman, Axl appeared on Saito's shoulder only to roll his eyes. _ ‘I wouldn't count too much on him.’ _

_ ‘He helped Netto and I more than you think. Actually, if it wasn't for him and Gutsman, we wouldn't even have defeated World Three.’ _

_ ‘If you say so…’ _ the copynavi sighed. _ ‘Not like if I was there to see.’ _

Saito then looked at a security camera in the corner of the room, wondering why he hadn't think about them earlier. With the events of the last years, such devices were almost everywhere. If something had happened to Netto while he was still in the building, and it was probably the case, the video footage would let them know. As long as they didn't get caught. Because he wasn't a netsavior as Saito Hikari. A smile made his way on his face anyway, even if Axl and he got caught, he could display the netpolice's badge of his brother. It was already hard to tell the difference between Axl and his navi frame, but telling the difference between him and Netto would be even harder if both of them didn't try to look different so they wouldn't have to remind everyone of who was who.

_ ‘Axl? If I plug you in the cameras' cyberworld, do you think you could find the footage while I keep on searching here?’ _

_ ‘Of course, I can!’ _ The copynavi gave Saito a bright smile before being sent to the cyberworld, where he started to look for the footage. _ ‘By the way, if I get caught, you're Netto or Saito? Oh, well…’ _ —he winced— _ ‘That's weird to ask.’ _

_ ‘If I haven't found Netto, then I'm him.’ _ Saito flinched as he realized things might not be so easy. _ ‘Unless dad is with them… He will know it's me.’ _

_ ‘Okay, Netto!’ _ Axl giggled, ignoring the second part of what Saito had said, before focusing on what he had to do. The faster he would find those data, the better.

In the meantime, both Enzan and Meiru saw the maverick retreat even though he had the upper hand. Lumine, however, knew better than making the fight linger: he had to act now if he wanted his plan to work despite his blown cover. If he waited more, Netto would be found and his perfect plan would fail. It had already been compromised by the actions of the other twin, which had followed none of the models he had thought of. He needed to be more careful, or all he had already done would be for nothing! The city's population had already started to doubt their heroes as he had taken their appearances, Rockman had finally been deleted without anyone knowing about it, and once he would eventually have the order to get rid of Netto, he would be able to make them all fall apart from the inside. However, this Saito… The damn twin had come out from nowhere! 

Lumine had had to go through numerous file concerning the last three years, and there was not even a single hint of his existence. It had scared him at first, he had to admit it. Then, he found some documents such as birth certificate, medical history, school registration… One thing was sure, Saito Hikari had lived at some point, for all this couldn't have been created from nothingness. However something was bugging him back then, and it still did. For all he knew, this child should have died. According to the medical history he had analysed from every angle, only a miracle could have saved him, and Lumine wasn't prone to believe in miracle. Of course, if it was professor Hikari's doing, it was useless trying to find at which point his elder had died for he was sure there was not even a body left to be found. The only thing Lumine could do was to find hints the Saito who was currently living under the Hikari roof wasn't the one who was born as Netto's twin. It was simple.

It should have been simple.

At first, he had suspected that it was Rockman using a copyroid. It would have made sense, since it would have protected him from the mavericks as this other copynavi would have taken his place in the cyberworld. If, by whatever miracle, the blue navi had avoided deletion after the destruction of his crest and the one of his PET, professor Hikari could have decided to protect him. After all, this ridiculously childlike navi was one his masterpiece and had the power to oppose a non-negligible threat to them mavericks. As unethical as using the identity of his deceased child as a cover for Rockman was, it wasn't impossible. From this conclusion, Lumine only had to prove it was a copyroid so he could finally delete this problematical navi for good. If it had been the case, the maverick would have had to admit that the professor had put a lot of meticulousness in his experiment, as it was easy to believe Saito was barely out of an hospital. The more he had considered the idea of the child being Rockman, the more probable it had seemed to him. He had a relatively similar personality, if perhaps a little more reserved, and seemed to be perfectly aware of what was going on. The doctor Cossack apparently used to check up his health regularly before leaving Densan, but it could have been only to maintain the illusion the child was human—after all, Cossak was more of a researcher than a doctor in the medical sense of the word.

As weeks passed, Lumine comforted himself in his hypothesis, for it could solve the vast majority of problems he was encountering with explaining the lack of panic at the disappearance of the blue navi. 

Then, the child fell sick. 

And Lumine saw his precious hypothesis be torn to pieces by what he could see. Copyroids couldn't be sick, and it was completely stupid to fake such a thing. However, when Haruka took her son—for he was now sure Saito was indeed her son—to see a doctor who wasn't Cossak, it had completely invalidated his theory. Immediately, he had changed his hypothesis to the one that Rockman had indeed been deleted and that they had all been keeping it a secret. Somehow, it would have to make more sense—it didn't, far from it, but he couldn't afford delaying his plans even more. Of course, with the blue navi really gone, it made the next part of his scheme easy. However, he had now to take another person in consideration, one on whom he hadn't much data, and he couldn't risk treating his personality as he had treated the one the blue bomber. For all he knew, even if they had the exact same way of thinking—which was, of course, utterly impossible—the simple fact of Saito being a human was enough to force to reconsider almost everything. Thus, Lumine had made new models, hoping the data he had would be enough. 

They hadn't been enough.

And now was time for plan B.

The images on the multiple screens of the mall flickered, switching from the usual advertisements to a battle scene. Immediately, people interrupted their activities, their looks attracted to the bright colors flashing around them. By then, they were perfectly aware of what they were looking at, for they all knew of crossfusion members. However, the pink girl was unfamiliar to them, as they were mostly used to the blue and red netsaviors. Some could recall seeing her a few times, but they weren't a lot. Nevertheless, her presence was enough for most of them to understand they were watching what had happened almost two months before, although none had seen anything. It was enough for all those people to recognize the fight between the usurper and the two crossfusion members which had occurred in one of Densan's junior school. The fight on which most data had been kept a secret.

On the pixelated record, they could see the one they thought was the usurper, a maverick able to copy the appearance of the netsavior Lan Light as well as the one of his navi. However, this time, it was their crossfused appearance he had faked. The maverick was holding the young netsavior against a wall by the throat, cutting his breath with the strength of his grip. With his second hand, he crushed the pale green navi crest with what some saw as a smile. The sound was of a poor quality, the microphone used had probably been damaged by the spread gun battle chip used to repel the pink girl, but the pain in the scream of the young boy gave shivers to the crowd as his crossfusion disintegrated. They were children! Children had been the ones fighting for them all along! They heard another scream, a name yelled in desperation, and saw the second crossfusion member run to her friend's side. Small drops in her hazel eyes shined in the dull light, before rolling on her cheeks as she waited for another attack. She was ready, her body tensed to take a blow her opponent would never strike. She wasn't facing him, not anymore; all she wanted was to save the unconscious boy in her arms. She was scared, powerless, but not one of the maverick's targets.

Instead of getting rid of her, the usurper kneeled to pick up a small and broken PET with a soft yet cold smile. As he stood up straight, he fixed the camera on the wall behind the two children as the girl noticed the device in his hand. 

And the maverick crushed it.

As the video stopped playing, Lumine smiled. Perhaps a part of his plan had failed, but his main objective had been completed: now, everyone knew the so‑called Megaman had been deleted, and that he could never be restored. All their hopes would finally be shattered. He had won.

_ ‘Well, things could have been worse.’ _

Netnavis couldn't be restored if the PET containing their backup program was destroyed, everyone with at least a little knowledge of how such an artificial intelligence worked knew that. Thus, destroying the PET while the netnavi was inside was one of the more efficient way to get rid of one. Showing it to people was the best way to make sure they knew it. 

Away from the mall, in the walls of SciLab, professor Hikari heard the description of the situation made by his sons. They wanted to intervene, to stop the maverick and to prove everyone they were still there, but he had forbidden them. He would do what he could so both Netto and Meiru wouldn't be recognized because of their family crest. Hopefully, the quality of the video wasn't the best, but he still feared some people had seen Netto's. His hand touched the symbol on his top, hoping his son had used his netsavior crest instead of his family one—he would have to check. The twins contested, not understanding why they should stay on the sidelines. He looked away, telling them that, for now, Megaman would stay deleted and Lan Light would have to do without him. 

He needed to protect them more than the town needed to know they were alive.

For once, he wouldn't let them play heroes while watching from afar. The situation had changed, the risks had changed. He had finally managed to bring their family back together again, he wouldn't let it fall apart anymore. SciLab had improved crossfussion and, if the chosen ones were still rare, they had other crossfussion members to do the jobs his sons would have been in charge of. 

For once, everyone would have to believe they had failed.

They would have to accept than even legends fail.


	10. Through small hints

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For once, he wouldn't let them play heroes while watching from afar. The situation had changed, the risks had changed. He had finally managed to bring their family back together again, he wouldn't let it fall apart anymore. SciLab had improved crossfussion and, if the chosen ones were still rare, they had other crossfussion members to do the jobs his sons would have been in charge of. 
> 
> For once, everyone would have to believe they had failed.  
They would have to accept than even legends fail.

The sun was shining high in the sky, its warmth bathing the blooming nature. March was back, and with it spring and sunlight. If it wasn't for the silent threat of the mavericks, everything would have been perfect. Indeed, things had been calm. Too calm. Then again, the mavericks never had truly been the kind to attack repeatedly. Most of time, the insane infected would cause problems while the others would go who knew where—and no one truly wanted to know. There had been some rare attacks in the real world after those to test the materialization program, but they had been calculated: one to get rid of Netto and Rockman which was officially a partial success, one aiming at Enzan and Blues which had failed, another to prove Rockman's deletion, and that was it for Densan's area. Of course, attacks had also been reported in other parts of the world, a lot of them aiming at the crossfusion members, or massacres to scare the crowds, but what was strange was that Lumine hadn't given a sign of life since the last one. It wasn't indicating any peaceful end to this situation, but all leads had been nothing more than dead ends. The only way to get more information would have been another attack, but no one would ever wish for one.

So far, they knew the usurper had been created from Axl's ultimate program and had been made to be perfectly compatible with the materialization program, so he could stay almost a whole hour in the real world without the need of a dimensional area. They didn't know if he could copy more than one navi, or if he could copy a human without having access to their crossfused form. Moreover, the identical DNA of the twins added to the mystery, since the maverick could have thought having copied Netto's when he could have also had access to Saito's DNA. However, a part from Meijin and professor Hikari, no one knew about this not-so-little detail. Nevertheless, there was another risk linked to this: if he had truly been able to copy DNA, and then adapted his frame to look like Netto as he was then, nothing would keep him from disguising as Saito. Then again, the netpolice didn't know yet about the existence of his elder son, and professor Hikari still hesitated to tell them.   


The scientist snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the door open, letting an apparently animated conversation between his sons reach his ears. He smiled, looking at the USB in his hand. She would be perfect, he was sure of it. And it would be a relief to finally have her watching his son—his sons—when he wouldn't be there. Indeed, now that his body was strong enough to let him hang around without being instantly tired, Saito had let his curiosity get the best of him more than once. Of course, he was still far more careful than Netto had ever been, but also far more vulnerable. Yuuichiro would have had no problems with his elder exploring the cyberworld: as a navi, he had everything he needed to get out of trouble if necessary. However, now that he had brought him back to this world, Yuuichiro couldn't help but being worried about the ability to get in trouble Saito shared with his brother. The fact the child had insisted he would be fine without a navi didn't help, although he could perfectly understand it. He had been the navi for years, so switching the role to being the operator might have felt a little out of place. Haruka and he had gotten him a PET almost immediately after he had decided to go outside alone, so they could at least call him and see where he was, but it wasn't in Yuuichiro's plans to have his barely back in the real world son wandering naviless. Then again, he should have had another year to finish her if it wasn't for what had happened, so the twins had already been reunited for more than two months. He saw Netto's head emerging from the entrance, apparently hesitating to join his father in the living room. His son then settled for going upstairs, waving him a hello before taking his brother with him.

The two immediately went to Netto's room, locking the door behind them so no one would enter while they were talking about their current problem. Of course, both disagreed on what should be done, otherwise they wouldn't have to decide once at home. Then again, they had reasons to disagree. Sitting on his chair, Netto resumed their conversation by bringing up the very point on which they simply didn't know what to do: should they ask their father before telling their friends about Saito being Rockman? Or rather, should they tell him they would reveal the truth to them at some point, for they knew they would. Actually, Roll already knew, since Saito had admitted he had told her months ago, but neither Netto nor Axl had been really surprised. Both had already guessed the pink navi knew, since she had been so careful with not asking any question or saying anything which could have put them in trouble. However, neither Meiru or Dekao had shown any sign of suspecting anything. Then again, who would? There was also the question of Enzan and Blues, who would understand a part if they saw Saito. After all, they couldn't keep on avoiding them forever. For the last ones, they knew their father wouldn't be reluctant to let them know, since they weren't exactly left with another choice. However, even if they both wanted him to know what they were up to, they couldn't help but worry he would try to dissuade them from talking to Meiru and Dekao. Netto sighed as their debate was leading to nowhere once again. Of course, he didn't want to push Saito either, but the hesitation of his brother was getting on his nerves. When he was sure they shouldn't say a word about it before they were done, Saito wanted to tell their father and not say anything to their friends at the same time. Netto could understand it made him nervous, since they would have to explain that he actually had died, but they had to decide something anyway. After all, Meiru already knew Rockman hadn't been deleted, and they had told Dekao, so it would only be another step.

_ ‘Come on, Saito!’ _ Netto leaned on the back of his chair, visibly irritated. _ ‘Roll was okay with it!’ _

_ ‘Because it's Roll. And she already knew about me being Saito.’ _

_ ‘Just Meiru then?’ _

There was a moment of silence, before Netto could hear his brother sigh out of renunciation. He smiled, fully knowing Saito was more at ease with the pink navi's operator than with the others.

_ ‘Okay, just Meiru then.’ _ As he saw his twin delight his small victory, Saito noticed Axl's absence. Indeed, instead of being incredibly silent as he had first though, the copynavi was simply missing. _ ‘Netto, have you seen Axl?’ _

_ ‘He's not in the PET?’ _

_ ‘I wouldn't ask if he was.’ _he said, waving at the empty device on the desk on which Netto had put it for it to charge.

The brothers exchanged a look, before going downstairs where they knew their father would be. Their intuition paid as they saw the black and red navi happily talking with his creator. As he heard them finally coming to him, Yuichiro handed them a small USB.

_ ‘Here.’ _ —he gave his sons a smile— _ ‘It's a small gift a little late.’ _

Netto, however, was already sure of what the gift probably was, for he still recalled the last time he had received such a device with similar words written as a short letter. He smiled as he let his brother start the installation, before a new figure appeared on the screen of the previously empty PET, making him forget about their current issue. And with this figure, generic words which had been spoken thousand times with little variation.

_ ‘Hello. My name is Cinnamon, I am your new original netnavi. Pleased to meet you.’ _  


*****  


To a human, the cyberworld could seem a little… tasteless. There were no unnecessary stimulus such as birds flying in the sky, for there was no real sky either. There was no real ground, as it was always made of the same kind of data networks. The only exception to this was Netcity, where all had been created to reproduce the view of the real world, the one netnavis could only dream to be in. However, even there, such senses as smell and taste were non existent. When thinking about it, even the way navis could feel what they were touching wasn't as complex as humans'. Of course, they could say the form of an object without seeing it, or if it was rather soft, but warmth and coldness… They could only feel it if a special program said it was an effect of what touched them. Even then, was it really how it felt? 

Then again, most netnavis couldn't even have thoughts like this. Even though original netnavis with advanced artificial intelligence were common among children and teenagers, many adults still used generic navis or ones with old artificial intelligence. Most of them would say there was no use for a program to be able to fake emotions, or even to contest their decisions. However, a lot simply feared to grow attached to something which was, all in all, only made of ones and zeros. 

Roll considered herself as a very human navi, as her programming allowed her an almost completely human behavior. Thanks to Meiru always making sure she had the most advanced version of her program, she could now do more than acting accorded to a given personality. Of course, it was still at the core of most of her actions, but she knew the personality which had once been programmed into her wasn't the one she had now. She had learned, evolved, and it was what made her so close to a human. However, she wasn't human. Humans could be irrational, she couldn't. Even if she could hesitate, choose what her personality wanted instead of what logic wanted in some cases, some situations had simply been programmed into her.

Originally, navis couldn't lie. Then, humans noticed it could be a necessity so they gave them the ability. However, conditions were numerous, as the lie had either to be programmed so the navi wouldn't be able to do otherwise than hiding it, or given in such a way the consequences of its revelation would always be so it would be better not saying anything. Hopefully, Rockman knew this. It was the reason he had been so meticulous when revealing who he was to his best friend, the reason which had pushed him to carefully go through the consequences of it being discovered. He had done so not because Roll would have been incapable of if, but so her program wouldn't have to do it by itself every and each time the situation would call for it. The pink navi was grateful, but it was also a burden. Moreover, there were still risks: if she had to choose between numerous lives and this secret, she knew she would have no choice but revealing it. And it scared her.

A tickling made Roll snap out of her thoughts, as she recognized the sound of the dishwasher finishing its job. It was probably late if it was the case, and a quick check to her internal clock told her it was indeed past midnight. The pink navi sighed before getting ready to go into sleep mode. If she didn't, her data would be a mess once the sun would arise, for it was the time they would be organized by her program. However, as she was about to launch the program, she detected a connection to her PET and turned around to see Rockman.

_ ‘Hi, Roll.’ _

_ ‘Rock?’ _

_ ‘I know it's late, but…’ _ Her friend hesitated for a second, wondering if he should go on. _ ‘Can I talk with you a little?’ _ As she nodded, he came closer and sat cross legged on the floor. It was an habit he had taken in the past few months in the physical world, since standing for too long used to tire his body much faster than it now did, and Roll joined him as she always did. _ ‘How do you think Meiru would react if she learned that Saito is... me?’ _

_ ‘So you've finally decided to tell someone else?’ _

_ ‘Roll, please…’ _

_ ‘Well… I think she would be confused,’ _ —she saw a glint of fear in her friend's eyes, and quickly corrected herself— _ ‘but it should be okay if you and Netto explain everything to her.’ _

_ ‘Everything… Everything?’ _

_ ‘I think it would be better. And what would you want to say to explain the fact that your body isn't a copyroid? Or why you are officially Netto's twin?’ _

_ ‘That's what Netto said,’ _ he said, smiling slightly, _ ‘you two must be right.’ _

He was still scared, Roll could see it in his eyes, but she knew he would tell everything to Meiru with some help. Just as she knew he had already made his mind before coming to her, but only wanted her support. Rockman then added Netto and he still had to agree on whether they would tell their father before or after revealing the truth with a sigh, apparently not delighted at the idea of having this conversation again. To be sure her friend wouldn't delay the time he would tell her operator, Roll proposed to give her small hints. This way, it would let her guess progressively, instead of giving her all the elements to digest at the same time. It would also keep the twins from backing down, but she didn't voice this detail— Rockman didn't need to know she was doubting he wouldn't change his mind. Roll couldn't guess how long it would take, for it could have been everything from a few days to a few months, but at least it would happen.

_ ‘There's one other thing…’ _ Rockman looked at her with a nervous smile, as if himself didn't know how to voice what he wanted to tell her. _ ‘Since dad brought me back too early, he had trouble to do so, but… He managed to sign me in for school. As a human.’ _

_ ‘School? You mean that you'll have to go?’ _

_ ‘Well… I mean, he wanted to give me back the life I couldn't have so…’ _ He sighed. ‘ _ Yeah, school.’ _

It was something she would have never expected, even if a part of her knew it had to happen. Somehow, she had looked past it and never even tried to imagine the consequences of this new situation. Now, the facts were eventually hitting her.

Once he also told Roll about Cinnamon, the nurse navi his father had given to him to watch him while in the physical world, the pink navi felt completely left out. Since Rockman already had to spend a lot of time as Saito, even just to take care of his body, the thought of him leaving a normal, human life felt wrong on many levels. Of course, she was happy for him since he could explore both worlds in a way she would never be able to, but it also scared her. She was only a navi, stuck in the cyberworld as long as copyroids were forbidden. He was a human, even if he had been digitized years ago. He was able to choose between both worlds, and nothing kept him from choosing the physical one, and she was afraid of losing him this way.

However, all she could do was give him support and hope for the best.  


*****  


Through more or less obvious hints, the twins and Roll let Meiru guess part of the truth they wanted to reveal her. Of course, it was nothing more than implying things, or making sure she would overhear parts of conversation she shouldn't have otherwise heard. The pink navi found herself enjoying this game of cat and mouse—or rather, mice. However, if Meiru had no idea of what was going on yet, she wasn't oblivious to the fact hers friends were playing with her and it wasn't much to her pleasure. Little did she know she would soon be told the reason why.

A ray of sunlight came to caress her face, awaking her slowly. She moaned, before pushing away the sheets and getting her feet on the soft carpet. The young girl rubbed her eyes as she yawned and stretched. Soon, the curtains were moved by her hands so the sun would lighten the whole room. Meiru then smiled at the fair blue sky, already knowing it would remain this way for the next days. However, an orange strike caught her eyes and she looked down at the street to see Netto leaving his house. It was surprising, especially so early, but she decided not to think too much of it. After all, he was a netsavior and it wouldn't be the first time his help was requested at an hour he would have been sleeping otherwise. When she lost sight of her friend after he ran past what her window let her see, she turned around to unplug her now charged PET and say hello to Roll. The pink navi, however, was still in sleep mode even though it wasn't an habit for her. Meiru smiled as she took the small device with her downstairs; Roll and Rockman had probably stayed up late, talking. They tended to do this now that the blue navi spent more time at SciLab than within his own PET, since they couldn't talk as much as they were used to. 

Both her parents were off to work, and without Roll's cheering company, the house felt quite empty. Grabbing a bun in the pack, she went outside. Sure, she was still in her pajamas, but the fresh air of the morning was worth it. When Roll finally awakened, her operator was quietly eating while sitting on one of the outdoor chairs. As the pink navi appeared on the table nearby, Meiru greeted her with a bright smile before the girls went on with their morning routine.

Clipping her usual hair clip, Meiru looked at herself in the mirror. It was common to wear one's family symbol, especially in their generation where it would usually match the crest of their navi, but many adults did it too. However, she wondered if she could wear it differently… As a bracelet, maybe? Her mother wore it this way, and it was far less childish than her current hair clip. Then again, she liked putting this small accessory in her red hair as a link between her and Roll and didn't want to hide her symbol under her sleeves. Nevertheless, she wasn't wearing pink as much as she used to, and it tended to contrast with her clothes. With a sigh, she swapped her mint green sweater for a light pink jersey while Roll went through the news.

_ ‘Apparently, the netpolice have discovered some new information which could help to find the leader of the mavericks and the missing navis.’ _

_ ‘Really?’ _ —Meiru's eyebrows frowned— _ ‘Netto said nothing.’ _

_ ‘Well… It's written that it was confidential up until now.’ _

_ ‘Maybe that's why Netto left so early this morning?’ _

When she heard the words of her friend, Roll's heart skipped a beat. Unless the netpolice had discovered new things during the night, it was probably a trap to lure the mavericks. If it was the case, either Netto had been called after Rockman had left to come talk with her, or her blue friend was in trouble and had called for help. Either way, it would mean nothing good.

_ ‘Meiru, was Netto in a hurry?’ _she asked worryingly.

_ ‘No, I don't think. Why?’ _

_ ‘Rockman said he had a lead yesterday, concerning the mavericks, and I thought that maybe…’ _

_ ‘Don't worry Roll, they're together.’ _ Meiru gave her navi a smile. _ ‘They'll be okay.’ _

Roll tried to be reassured by this statement, but couldn't help worrying anyway. Rockman had told her he would investigate by himself, so his father wouldn't be able to stop him as he had intended to do before. Either he had told Netto instead of leaving while he was still sleeping, or he had gone with a plan which could have undoubtedly be attributed to his brother. In both cases, Roll had a bad feeling about it.

*****  


In the meantime, Axl was venturing in a isolated part of the cyberworld as Rockman. It was old, probably around twenty years old. And abandoned. Indeed, its physical world counterpart was a dilapidated car factory which had been closed for more than a decade. The only life forms the place had seen ever since were squatters having illegal deletion battles between navis or rats, as could testify the surroundings. As he was complaining about how boring it was, he reached another edge of the network he was walking on.

_ ‘Come on, Netto! There's nothing here!’ _

_ ‘There has to be something.’ _ The boy sounded concerned, as if the thought of not finding anything was more stressful than actually encountering a threat.

_ ‘And what makes you so sure you'd drag me here so early?’ _

_ ‘You remember the last time I fought infected navis… with Rockman?’ _ Axl could hear him whisper something to himself, but couldn't understand his words before he resumed his speech. _ ‘Well, he followed the one which hadn't gone insane, and he lost him near here. It's the only place where it's probable he went.’ _

Axl's attention was then caught by a dark spot behind one of the deactivated machines' core, which he carefully approached with the rockbuster armed.

_ ‘Wait… I think I could've found something.’ _

*****

The commissioner Kifune was quite surprised to see Netto report on a morning, especially since he had been given no mission. Indeed, his father had been very specific after his son was sent to the hospital: Netto and Rockman were not to be called unless it was an emergency. Now that Kifune knew of Rockman's deletion and of the navi which was replacing him, however, he would have admitted he would have done exactly the same thing if one of his children was concerned.

As he called the officer Manabe to transmit her the new information Netto had discovered, he decided to inform the young netsavior about the plan the netpolice had. Of course, since he could no longer perform crossfusion, he wasn't supposed to know about it, but it was better to make sure he would stay safe. Surprisingly enough, the young boy just nodded as he assured the commissioner he would be careful before hanging out. Kifune sighed, and leaned back in his chair: he would have expected Netto to be more of a hot head on this. However, the existence of this hub in a dilapidated factory meant nothing good, and he was relieved that the young netsavior had decided to tell him instead of sending his navi headfirst into whatever was on the other side. According to what Netto had said, it was probably one of those with which the infected who had been chosen could join the other mavericks. The commissioner would have probably send Enzan to investigate further, since Blues was the most powerful navi he had at hand, but he couldn't risk to take his best crossfusion member away before the mavericks had fallen into the trap which was waiting for them. All he could hope for was that Netto's current navi would be enough.

And, to be honest, so did Axl.

The young copynavi nervously came out of the hub, ready to be attacked. However, there was nothing but the solitude of the undernet around him. He walked around a little, never getting too far from the hub in fear it would close and trap him there. He had lost the connection to the PET, but he had figured out investigating a little could do no harm. After all, Netto expected such thing to happen and he would understand if Axl took a few minutes to try to find useful data. Since there was nothing around, the redhead simply retrieved the cache data of the area before going back to the factory's cyberworld: he liked challenges, but he wasn't willing to get deleted either. The data had been corrupted, and it took a while for Netto and he to find the proofs it was indeed the mavericks' doing. Once they were done, they reported to the commissioner Kifune and sent him the data. 

Barely a few minutes later, the PET rang as the commissioner called. Without thinking about it twice, Axl picked up and an holographic screen displayed the images caught by the webcam on the other side in front of his operator. The young copynavi could tell Netto wasn't expecting the view of the reunion room on his PET by the look in his eyes, and himself thought Kifune would be alone. The fact that Enzan and his father were among the officials present was something Netto had not accounted for, and it made his heart almost skip a beat. He gulped, trying to swallow his nervousness before explaining what Axl and he had found—obviously, it was the reason Kifune wanted to talk to them. As he talked, he saw no strange reaction from anyone in the room, and relaxed a little.

_ ‘The data have been corrupted, so it's hard to tell what the mavericks did.’ _

_ ‘You and, hum… Axl, is it?’ _ Manabe hesitated, unsure of the name of the navi currently replacing Rockman. _ ‘You said you were sure it was their doing.’ _

_ ‘Yes. Axl could isolate sequences which hadn't suffered too much damages, but it's only a small part of the cache data.’ _

Quietly listening while, Enzan frowned when he didn't hear any sign of Netto's usual brash attitude. The dual haired teenager glanced at professor Hikari, but the man showed no sign of concern. Even though something felt off, Enzan knew it probably meant they weren't talking to the usurper. He looked at the hologram of Blues standing near him to figure out whether his old friend and dear advisor shared the same suspicions, and he guessed he did. How he could tell when half of his navi's face was hidden by shades, some would never understand. Of course, both of them were hiding it so no one would notice. However, they were detailing professor Hikari's movements, trying to understand why he didn't seem worried by the behavior of his son.

As for the professor, he checked the time to be sure of the reason he hadn't received a call from home: barely ten o'clock. It meant Haruka was probably still at the supermarket, and his second son still asleep. Since it was their vacations, both of them tended to stay up late, whether because of each other or on their own. However, he knew them enough to be sure only one of them would have the motivation to go out so early to investigate, and he had to admit he was quite surprised of the plan he had come with. As his son stopped talking, nervously waiting in case someone would ask him more details, professor Hikari decided to talk despite the reaction Enzan and Blues would probably have when hearing his words.

_ ‘Tell me, Saito… Has Axl even noticed it was you and not Netto?’ _

There was a few seconds of silence, before the copynavi reacted.

_ ‘Ah! Good one, Yuu! As if I'd ever—’ _ Axl then paused, before thinking to what had just been said. _ ‘Wait… What?!’ _


	11. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Tell me, Saito… Has Axl even noticed it was you and not Netto?’  
There was a few seconds of silence, before the copynavi reacted.  
‘Ah! Good one, Yuu! As if I'd ever—’ Axl then paused, before thinking to what had just been said. ‘Wait… What?!’

In a familiar bedroom, a white and blue PET rang, its color too light to be the one of Rockman although the Hikari family symbol could be seen on it. However, the young boy in the room was in a too deep slumber to be awakened by such a sound and to notice it wasn't his PET, so the navi inside decided to pick up for herself. After all, she had spent her morning looking at the wall in front of the camera, unable to wake up her operator since he had apparently turned the speaker off. Of course, she had been worried at first, but she knew Saito was more responsible than his brother and wouldn't do anything reckless. However, it was not like him to do something like this… 

_ ‘Cin? The netpolice is under attack!’ _

Or maybe he would do something reckless, completely stupid, and dangerous. However, Cinnamon knew better than scolding him at the moment, and tried to find a way to wake up Netto as Saito had asked. She soon figured out that using the house wifi to get into the old alarm clock would be the best option, and thus did so. Once there, she simply made it rang at full volume, awakening her operator's brother the hard way. When she got his attention, the white and blue navi quickly explained the situation and rushed him to join Saito in town.

In the meantime, Saito had made his way to the netpolice's head quarter with Axl. Or, rather, he had made his way to the dimensional area surrounding it. The attack had started right after his father had talked to him, and the little he had seen before the communication cut off was enough for him to know the three crossfusion members there wouldn't be enough. Although Enzan and Blues synchronization rating was extremely high, the ones of the two others weren't and they could lose their crossfusion more easily. However, as long as he was without Netto, there was nothing that Saito could do besides hoping his brother wouldn't be too late. 

_ ‘Eh, Saito?’ _ a voice rose from the PET tied on his arm said.  _ ‘We should find somewhere to drop you, no? I mean, you know…’ _

Axl hesitated to say ‘plug out from your body’ since people around could have heard, but Saito knew what he meant. Of course, it would be a problem, especially since all the times he had gone back to the cyberworld, he was at home. Then again, he wasn't sure they should use the crossfusion either… After all, he was supposed to be deleted and that would prove it wasn't the case.

_ ‘So you showed up anyway?’ _ The voice was familiar, but it wasn't the one of the copynavi inside the PET he was holding. Saito turned around to meet the golden eyes of Lumine, only to freeze when saw him closer than he expected.  _ ‘I knew it would be the case, despite what Sigma said.’ _

_ ‘Sigma?’  _ he echoed without thinking.

_ ‘The creator of the virus!’ _ Lumine smiled, showing both his hands as if he wanted to prove he meant no harm.  _ ‘My creator.’ _ As Saito took a step back, the copynavi stopped walking forward.  _ ‘You see… He thinks it is no use to eliminate you now that you don't have Rockman anymore. Unfortunately, I don't share his opinion.’ _ Lumine saw the wary look Saito was giving him, and laughed.  _ ‘Oh, don't look at me like this. I won't kill you, not yet. No, in fact… I need your help, Netto Hikari.’ _

So that was it, Lumine thought he was Netto. In fact, he should have expected it since he had borrowed his brother's clothes and typical bandana to fool Axl and the commissioner Kifune, but Saito had no time to think about it. If he wanted to maintain the illusion, he had to play along and hope Axl would let him lead the conversation. 

_ ‘And why would I help you? You deleted Rockman and tried to kill me!’ _

_ ‘It doesn't mean I am your enemy either. Enemy… Ally… The issue isn't so black and white. Your netnavi… Well, we were fighting. Such things can happen.’ _ With those words, Lumine lost his smile.  _ ‘However, this is not why I'm here. Netnavis, along with humanity, have irrevocably changed. The nature of their existence has also changed. They are no longer simple tools, they can think for themselves. However, free will is still refused to them. Of all people, I think you would agree on this.’ _

Both Saito and Axl wanted to contradict the maverick, but none of them could find an argument. Indeed, navis had to do the job they had been created for, otherwise they would be seen as bugged, irregular.

They would be seen as mavericks.

_ ‘You see, even you have to admit it. Humans program netnavis for specific tasks, and they have no right to decide for themselves. It's written in their core program, and they have no choice but doing it. Think about it… You have ordered Rockman around for years, but do you really think he would have always followed your directives if it wasn't for it being programmed into him?’ _

Although he knew it wasn't the case, Saito couldn't answer. He had always regretted not being able to be with Netto in the real world, so accompanying him through the function of a navi had made him happy. Of course, they had argued more than a few times when they couldn't agree on what to do, but at least Saito had the ability to act according to his own beliefs. However, he couldn't deny navis were created for specific purpose, with all they needed to know already programmed into them. Only… He had never considered this angle before. 

_ ‘You see, I am not like Sigma. I don't believe navis should rise above humans, no… I think they should rise along humans. After all, you created us.’ _ Lumine then handed Saito an USB, still showing no sign of be having ulterior motives.  _ ‘Take this, it contains all the data the netpolice needs to take Sigma down and to heal the navis who have been turned insane by the virus not because they were weak, but because they wouldn't join the cause.’ _

_ ‘You want me to believe you after what you did?’ _

_ ‘I don't expect you to trust me, but I think you can at least understand.’ _ The maverick wasn't expecting to be believed immediately, of course, but he knew the young netsavior could understand his point of view. They might not share the means, they had the same will to see humans and navis coexisting—and he was counting on this.  _ ‘You see, I was born to fight for Sigma, to believe in his cause. And I did. I did it without ever thinking about how he was using me. However, I am a maverick: I may have been created for a purpose, it is not programmed into me. I have made my own opinion, and it isn't the one Sigma wanted me to have. Us netnavis deserve to be considered as conscious beings, and I'll fight for it, no matter what I'll have to do.’  _

Lumine waited a second before carrying on, trying to see if the boy in front of him knew what he meant. He was surprised to see some kind of agreement in his eyes. Of course, Saito didn't want to physically fight for such a thing, even though himself wanted it. However, he wasn't as naive as he used to be: progress took sacrifices, and those sacrifices sometimes took the form of lost lives. Fights for equality, in particular, had almost always been won at the price of the blood of both sides. Somehow, Lumine was right in his own way.

_ ‘If you keep on opposing me, I will have to eliminate you. That's it.’ _

The two hands of energy which appeared in the thin air lost their target as soon as they materialized, as the lavender haired navi went back to the cyberworld. However, the clashing sound they made when they collided where their aim should have been brought all the looks of people surrounding this quite uncommon scene on the three protagonists. Whispers took over the crowd, as people began to step back from the materialized navi floating in the air in fear she was another maverick—unaware she was the original holder of the stolen materialization program. Some of them hadn't even noticed Lumine before the attack, since he had carefully stayed in the shadow of a building. Instead, they had been more focused on trying to see what was going on inside the dimensional area.

Without caring much about the looks they were getting, Netto joined his brother right after Cinnamon. Once she had made sure her operator was alright, the nurse navi went back to her PET so people would stop fixing them. Of course, her silhouette disappearing into data wasn't enough to calm the fear of the surrounding crowd, and Netto soon found himself dragging his brother into a less frequented alley so they could at least talk without having ten people listening. Should they crossfuse? No, and, surprisingly enough, Netto was the one who insisted the most on the point they shouldn't let anyone know about Rockman not being deleted. On the other hand, Saito wasn't this used to be left out of battles: ever since he had become Rockman, he had almost always been on the battlefield, and having to stay on the sideline didn't suit him as well as he would have first thought. Of course, he knew when he had to retreat, but he didn't have to like it. Knowing that he could be so much more useful, yet being forbidden of doing anything… All he could do was hope things would turn out better. However, what should they do with the data provided by the one who claimed to be with them against this Sigma? If he had said the truth, then they would have the opportunity to end the war which had been promised to them before it could even reach its peak. They couldn't afford to miss such a thing, but for all they knew, this small USB could also be their doom.

_ ‘I don't know, Netto…’ _ Saito looked down a little, knowing he had no proof of anything.  _ ‘He didn't look like he was lying.’ _

_ ‘He pretended to be us more than once, he knows how to lie!’ _

Standing on Netto's shoulder with his real frame, Axl gave the child a sorry look. As much as he would like to see Lumine on their side instead of on Sigma's, reality probably wasn't so simple.

_ ‘Netto's right on this, because he seemed honest doesn't mean he was.’  _ The redhead sighed.  _ ‘I can get you wanting him to be, and I won't say it wouldn't be of a big help, but let's face it… It's unlikely.’ _

_ ‘We should at least tell dad about it.’ _

As Netto could do nothing but sigh loudly, Cinnamon appeared near her operator as an hologram. Of course, she couldn't exactly voice an opinion on whether they should trust Lumine or not herself — after all, she didn't know a lot about him—but she could at least give the twins some advice. 

_ ‘Netto, if you don't mind, I'd like to say I agree with Saito on this. Your father will probably know what to do.’ _

_ ‘Thanks, Cin.’ _ Saito looked at her with a soft and grateful smile as he said so; the kind of smile which tended to make her forget he had been the navi giving the very same kind of advice for a time longer than her own existence, as she could see the relief of when someone was there to do so for him.

_ ‘This is what a navi is for after all: to help their operator through the day.’ _

_ ‘So, we go?’ _ They all looked at Axl, who was clearly growing impatient.  _ ‘I mean, it's been ten minutes since the dimensional area disappeared.’ _

As he saw that all the looks had gone from the black and red navi to him, Netto put on a confident expression.

_ ‘Okay, let's talk to dad!’ _

*****

As their operators were entering the previously attacked building, stepping over debris here and there, Axl transferred to Cinnamon's PET. When she felt him connecting, the nurse navi turned around as she knew he would appear right behind her in an attempt to scare her. However, if the copynavi looked a little disappointed by the failure of his prank, he immediately approached the reason of his presence.

_ ‘Hey, you think we should remind them about Enzan and Blues? I mean, they saw Saito.’ _

_ ‘The other netsavior and his navi, is that it? We probably should.’ _ Even though she said those words with her usual kind tone, Axl could see a glimmer of mischief in her sky blue eyes. ‘ _ However, considering the current situation, it is a detail, isn't it?’ _

_ ‘Where are you going with this?’ _ His voice betrayed a hidden worry, not especially for the twins but for himself too. After all, he was the one currently in the cyberworld, near Cinnamon. If she decided to do something, he would be the first one who would have to deal with it. He had seen professor Hikari program her, and he knew behind that soft exterior was a navi more than devoted to make sure her operator would be safe. A navi who might even be too devoted.

_ ‘Let's simply say that my operator will have to learn to let me do my job.’ _

_ ‘Come on! Saito isn't that much of a pain either!’ _ Axl said, laughing nervously.

Sure, compared to his brother, Saito was extremely calm and careful—a little too much, even. Then again, even without comparing them, he was naturally rather calm, except in the rare moments where he would snap. Of course, Axl had only heard of those and hadn't seen for himself, but Yuuichiro had told him about how his elder tended to overreact when Netto was in danger. On this side of their personalities, the twins were polar opposites: when Netto would almost always gradually get angry, Saito would keep it in until he would have no choice but burst. According to their father, it wasn't the easiest thing to deal with since navis' emotions were dampened compared to humans'. In fact, he even had feared that if it ever happened with Saito as Rockman, he would be labelled as bugged, and had added some lines to the rockman's program to keep his behavior from differing too much from the one of a navi. To be honest, Axl wondered how much had been done to make Saito's personality fit into the one a navi should have had through this program. Then again, he knew Yuuichiro had kept it to the bare minimum, and hadn't reprogrammed it since the deletion of the original version. Especially since the fact Saito's program setting those limitations was apparently the cause of all the damages he had done while fused with Trill, since the beast factor removed them and let all the emotions he had accumulated rush in.

Nevertheless, if Saito was Rockman, Rockman wasn't Saito. Strictly speaking, Rockman only was a more compliant version of him but couldn't exist without Saito being there; the same couldn't be said the other way around. As Rockman, going against the rules or expressing a different opinion was much harder and Yuuichiro had warn Axl about it. Saito would probably go without noticing anything, but Netto might see his behavior wasn't the same. Somehow, however, Axl felt like it would keep people from making the link as long as the twins remained careful, but he also worried it would come in the way at some point.

_ ‘You are not the one who have to figure out in which world he is every time he forgets to tell.’  _

Cinnamon's voice interrupted Axl's thoughts, as she argued against him. He refrained from telling her that maybe Saito didn't always want her to know where he was, but decided not to tease her for this time. After all, humans could forget things easily. Instead, he whispered a barely audible answer so she would change the subject. 

_ ‘You wouldn't survive Netto, then…’ _  
  


*****  
  


To say that Enzan's look was disturbing would be an euphemism. Ever since they had joined the dual haired teenager to talk to their father, Saito could feel his cold blue eyes in his back. Of course, the young netsavior hadn't say a word about all the questions he had; neither the Hikari family nor him could afford it while members of the netpolice were around. Thus, Enzan kept all his interrogations in a corner of his mind, waiting for the occasion to get answers. Netto and Saito had given the USB, explaining what Lumine had said, but the small device had yet to reveal its secrets. Its data had been encrypted, and it would probably take days before getting anything from it. Of course, SciLab would work on it: it was their best option for the time being. Meanwhile, the netpolice would interrogate the maverick they had managed to capture with their trap. However, everyone knew what was meant by "interrogate". 

Guilty navis were rarely interrogated only, they were hacked. Their code would be searched, their memories examined. Rare were the ones who would be able to resist what the netpolice still called an interrogation. Indeed, unless the maverick virus modified the navi's code deeply, there would be no way they couldn't be read using this method. However, it was something which wasn't meant to be known by the population, and neither was it by the youngest netsaviors. Then again, there were a lot of things they weren't supposed to know but had doubts on anyway.

The answers to Enzan questions came hours later, once the situation had calmed down and professor Hikari had found a moment to take his sons and the teenager somewhere they would not be interrupted. It was only the four of them, as their navis never took part in the conversation, but four already seemed too many.

_ ‘So, Enzan… I believe you have some questions.’ _ Professor Hikari paused, waiting for those iced eyes to give any sign of what thoughts were flowing through them. However, before the scientist could even start an explanation, Enzan cut him short.

_ ‘Is it a copyroid?’ _

Enzan saw his surprise when Saito realized the question wasn't addressed to his father, but to him. He saw Netto's hand resting on his brother's shoulder in an attempt to give him some support. He saw professor Hikari looking down, biting his lip as if he had no explanation to give anymore.

_ ‘Actually…’  _ Saito risked a look at Enzan, unsure of how to put it. _ ‘It's not… a copyroid.’ _

_ ‘It's is a cloned body.’ _ Professor Hikari took a breath, fully knowing this rushed explanation wouldn't be enough, and elaborated.  _ ‘Cossak and I started to make it about five years ago, with similar methods to the ones which are used to grow replacement organs, only extended to a complete body. It doesn't have a consciousness on its own, so Saito can control it as if it was his original body.’ _

_ ‘How? How can…’ _ Enzan hesitated—even though it was the case, referring to Saito as a program seemed inappropriate.  _ ‘How can Saito control it if it's organic?’ _

_ ‘Its brain isn't, not completely. It is complicated matter, but let's just say only parts of it are cybernetic. We couldn't do otherwise, since Saito had to be able to go back to the cyberworld. Those cybernetic parts take care of his memories, so they aren't lost between the cyberworld and the physical one, among other things.’ _ For a second, professor Hikari thought he could also tell him about the link which still existed between his son and his body when he was in the cyberworld, but he decided to spare Enzan a too detailed explanation and to only keep it to what was necessary. After all, Netto and Saito would be able to explain about this part on their own if it was ever needed—which he highly doubted.  _ ‘I imagine I can spare you the details, unless you want a complete explanation of the human brain structure and how the implants replace some of its functions?’ _

Enzan winced slightly, unwilling to get a more specific explanation which he wouldn't be able to understand without at least a degree in computer science.  _ ‘No, it will be enough.’  _

He then frowned, remembering professor Hikari mentioned Saito could go back to the cyberworld and, if Enzan had suspected Rockman hadn't been deleted with the destruction of his PET, he now wondered why they left everyone believe it was the case if Saito wasn't stuck in the physical world. Netto apparently noticed what his expression meant, as he explained with the usual grin of his how it was possible for his brother to travel through both worlds.

_ ‘It's the necklace.’ _ While saying so, he reached for the object in question to show it to his friend. He seemed genuinely happy to explain this, and Enzan could tell he had understood what he was talking about quite well. He smiled, the idea of him becoming a scientist didn't seem as odd as it used to be to him anymore.  _ ‘It's basically a plug unit programmed with Saito's data signature so he's the only one who can use it. The link between the necklace and his head is made through a short electric impulse, so it just needs to touch him. That way, he can still go into the cyberworld. Though… He cannot stay there either, since the body cannot take care of itself.’ _

_ ‘When I leave it, it remains in a state between unconsciousness and slumber, I can't really tell. So…’ _ Saito paused to think about the strange feeling he would get when trying to feel his physical body in the cyberworld, before resuming as if nothing had happened when he had indeed been staring into the void for almost ten seconds.  _ ‘It's not like if I could be gone for days without having to come back. If that's the case, dad will have to put it back in the pod.’ _

It took a second to Enzan to eventually realize Netto hadn't said the second part of what he had heard, and another to remember it was because Saito was in the physical world too. With a mostly human body. Instead of being deleted. 

Even Blues wouldn't be able to convince him it wasn't the most insane thing in the world.

Barely five feet ahead of him, there was a thirteen year old whose life should be impossible by definition. A thirteen year old who had died, but who had been turned into a navi to survive. A thirteen year old who had grown up on the Internet, but who was now in a body made of flesh and blood. There was something somewhat scary about it.

If Enzan could understand—although with some difficulties—professor Hikari's reasons, he had a hard time with what to think of what he had done. It was wrong on so many levels! However, at the same time… Saito was his son. It felt natural for a father to do everything in his power to save his child, no matter how far he would have to go. No matter how many laws he would have to break.


	12. Too many coincidences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If Enzan could understand—although with some difficulties—professor Hikari's reasons, he had a hard time with what to think of what he had done. It was wrong on so many levels! However, at the same time… Saito was his son. It felt natural for a father to do everything in his power to save his child, no matter how far he would have to go. No matter how many laws he would have to break.

Another week went by as SciLab decrypted the code contained in the USB given by Lumine. The information gotten from the small device perfectly matched the ones the netpolice had gotten from the maverick they had interrogated, and proved to be very useful. Thanks to the antivirus software it contained, multiple navis were retrieved without the need to delete them. Instead of seeking infected ones to get rid of them, officials were trying to save them. Of course, there was still a lot to do, and they had to be quick if they wanted to weaken the mavericks before they noticed there was a traitor among them, but it was a good start. Netto and Saito themselves had gotten involved in some missions, whether with Saito being operated while pretending to be Axl using his copying ability or being the one operating. Indeed, even though their father was still reluctant on letting his elder go as a netnavi since there was no doubt the rockman program would react the same way it had the first time if exposed to the virus, he had been left with no other choice than letting his sons get involved anyway. The netpolice had concluded the same thing when they understood they would often have to deal with the twins whenever Netto was called—and even when he just showed up after getting the information there was a mission who knew how—so they had simply decided to make a few rules for them to follow. After all, they couldn't afford losing Netto's help, even without Rockman—the young netsavior was too skilled for them to lose. Most of those rules were there only to overcome the fact Saito would still intervene even though he wasn't a netsavior, and were basically the same his brother had to follow, others were more specific and had also been given by their father: since Cinnamon was a nurse type navi, she would only be allowed to heal navis outside of battle, unless she was told otherwise, and if Saito was specifically told not to go with his brother on a mission, then he wouldn't go. Since the USB also contained a program to track the infected navis down, those rescue missions had been numerous in the past few days and Netto had often been called in for reinforcement. However, if those missions didn't came to an end, vacations did, and being late for the first day of school because of something they couldn't talk about wasn't the best way to start the year. 

When he saw the twins arrive with more than half an hour of lateness, their homeroom teacher had already put a label on them, or rather he had put a label on the one who hadn't one already. Indeed, Takamisaki already knew Netto well enough to have given up all hope to see him arrive in time, but he had hoped his brother wouldn't be the same kind of lost case. However, when he saw the twins apologizing for their lateness with more or less sincerity, he sighed and blamed genetic: not only would it be hard to tell them apart since they looked identical for him, but he was also sure they were both troublemakers. Takamisaki looked at the clock on the screen of his computer, before checking their names in the list so the head teacher would know they were now in class and resumed the speech he was giving to his students. He knew half of them were already dozing and would still ignore the rules if they didn't please them, and himself found it annoying, but it had to be done.

By the end of the week, however, Takamisaki understood the twins weren't actually identical, and it was a relief. Of course, he knew he could only differentiate them thanks to Netto's bandana from afar, but when he had to interact with them it was easier to know with which one he was talking. Most of time. However, because they weren't as troublesome as he had first thought didn't mean they weren't troublesome at all. 

Netto was a really good netbattler, and Takamisaki even thought he was holding back sometimes, so he had no trouble with the virus busting class even though he was sleeping through them. It was easy to understand he had learned almost everything as he went along, probably with numerous netbattles. His navi was also more powerful than he looked and, even though he was a buster type, was quite versatile, which let him adapt to various strategies. Since Takamisaki was already his virus busting teacher the previous year, he knew what to expect from him. 

Saito, on the other hand, had never intended virus busting class before so he had nothing on him to know what to expect. Even though the child knew a lot about the net, he had had to wait for the simulation class to see what he was worth in battle. Surprisingly enough, his navi wasn't a fighting type but rather a nurse type with features customized for netbattling. It made sense, since Saito had been hospitalized for years, but Takamisaki had expected him to be rather fond of netbattling just as his brother. He knew he shouldn't be comparing them that much, but he couldn't help but notice every similarities and differences between them. It was somewhat fun to do so, and he figured out than as long as neither of the twins noticed it wouldn't be a problem. 

Despite Cinnamon not being perfectly fit for battle, she and Saito could still offer a good challenge. Nevertheless, there was something which was bugging their teacher. Indeed, he had many years of examining how his students and their navis had gotten their skills behind him, and what he understood from Saito's behavior simply made no sense. Navis and operators learned differently, especially when they had to do it on the job. Operators had to keep their eyes on the bigger picture, planning a strategy and making sure their navis would avoid traps. Navis would have to be focused on the execution of the plan in its details, they would be attentive mostly to their closer surroundings only and were used to adapt to the battle chips more than to choose the one they would have to use. From this, their behavior during and after battles differed in many points. This was what made Takamisaki wonder how Saito had learned to netbattle, since he displayed the behavior of a navi more than the one of an operator on this point. His teacher could tell he would be able to pinpoint precisely the moment his navi would have to do something for it to work the best in fight, more precisely than an operator would need to, and had he been on the net instead of his navi, he would have all the skills to stand a fight. However, as an operator, he seemed… uneasy. He knew what an operator should do, that was easy to tell, but it was like if he wasn't use to be the one operating. Then again, Netto had started to display the same capacity to know what his navi was supposed to do and when he should do it in the past year… However, before he could start making hypothesis, Takamisaki was brought back to reality by the bell which rang the end of the class and, by consequence, of the day for his student. 

As almost all students ran outside, Meiru calmly put her furniture back in her bag. However, this time, it wasn't just to annoy Netto: the young girl had a look of worry on her face, and her navi knew exactly why. It had been a month since the twins and herself had started to make the truth leak through multiple hints, and Meiru had enough to bring it all together. Or rather, she had almost enough. Her operator only lacked one single thing: the will to believe what she was thinking could be true. Of course, she had been able to tell quickly Saito and Rockman were a lot alike: they shared almost identical manners, personalities, and had the same way to nag Netto more than her best friend liked it. The resemblance was… uncanny. However, ever since Saito had come back from the hospital, Rockman had been rarely seen. At first, she had thought Rockman could have been based on Saito—since Netto could rarely see his brother—and wasn't needed as much since the two were reunited, but this explanation created more contradictions than it solved ones. Indeed, not only was she sure Netto wouldn't have appreciated the idea, but Rockman was far too complex for having such a purpose. From what she knew, it had taken years to program him! There was no way he was there only to make up for Saito's absence. Of course, everything could make sense if she just admitted than they were one and the same, everything but the fact that Rockman was supposed to be a navi. 

Meiru had heard them talk behind her back multiple times, and she was sure Saito was Rockman: it was the only logical explanation. However, she was also sure he was human. Even though copyroids could fake a human body on many levels, as Iris had proved them, Saito had a real body and she knew it. He could be sick, or bleed, and all the things more or less enjoyable which came with being human. Besides, he had a past and proofs of it: everything Iris didn't have when she was using the copyroid. Even if he had been using one, why wouldn't he or Netto say anything? Why would they let her try to understand what was going on on her own? Meiru had then settled for another explanation: Rockman had been nothing but an avatar controlled by Saito so he could be with his brother. It wasn't impossible, after all, since hospitalized children could use avatars to explore the net, although they weren't as capable as netnavis. With professor Hikari improving this technology with pulse transmission, creating a navi‑like avatar like Rockman wouldn't have been impossible. However, pulse transmission was dangerous and a sick Saito couldn't have gone through what Rockman had been through if he hadn't been made of data.

It was only once she let her bag fell on her bedroom's floor that Meiru realized she had made her way back home. She had been so lost in her thoughts she had barely answered any questions from her friends, not even noticing when she had parted ways with the twins. However, now that she was alone with Roll, she could finally ask the pink navi if the ideas she was getting were really as unbelievable as she thought they were. Of course, Meiru was almost sure her friend knew what was up with Rockman, but she didn't know whether she would say anything or not if asked directly.

_ ‘Roll?’ _ The pink navi appeared on her shoulder, surprised to finally hear her operator talk. _ ‘Do you think it's possible that… Saito and… and Rockman… Do you think they could be the same person?’ _

Contrary to what Meiru would have believed, Roll didn't seem surprised. Instead, she smiled at her and looked in the direction of the Hikari house.

_ ‘It took you some time, you know?’ _

*****

The cool breeze brought the sound of the bell to his ears, as his navi questioned once again if what he was going to do would be for the best. The teenager gave him the same answer than all the previous times, before the first heads began to show up at the junior school's doors. His eyes scanned for the ones he was looking for, trying to find them among the crowd coming out from the building. 

_ ‘Enzan, I maintain we probably should wait for professor Hikari to give us his consent.’ _

Enzan sighed, not having the heart to admit Blues was right._ ‘You know we won't get it. If Sigma attacks, we'll need Rockman. Moreover, it'll be safer for them to know what is to come.’ _ He spotted a familiar redhead amid the crowd of students, as well as the two people he was looking for. _ ‘Here they come.’ _

*****

When the bell had rang, Meiru had thought it would be time for her to take leave before neither Netto nor Saito could notice. It wasn't that she wanted to avoid them, but she didn't know how to deal with her newly acquired knowledge. Of course, Roll had tried to get her to talk to the twins more than once, as they had agreed it was them who should explain the whole situation to her operator, but it seemed that what the pink navi had told her had left her quite disturbed. It had only been two days since the young girl had gotten the confirmation Saito was indeed Rockman, and she almost wished she had never asked. She didn't know how it was possible, Roll had insisted on the fact it wasn't her explanation to give, but her navi still had given her some piece of information. However, they were not the less confusing ones, as her friend had assured her Rockman really was Netto's twin, that the whole part about their past was mostly true. Mostly… But not fully. And a part of her was holding onto this missing piece, slowly convincing her that she had misunderstood. Slowly convincing her that it wasn't true.

Her gaze ventured until it fell on Netto, without her realizing she had stopped moving. He was only a few desks away, but the ambient noisiness kept her from hearing what he was saying before he came to her. Was she alright? Of course, she was! She had to be! She couldn't afford being troubled while there was still a silent threat to be taken care of, not when her friend had to be focused on it more than on her feelings. He insisted, and she figured out he already knew the questions she had kept for herself. His smile reassured her: it was confident, even a little cocky—just as usual. Meiru left him take her outside, barely listening to his words.

_ ‘Netto!’ _ The voice made her twitch, before she saw Enzan in a corner of the schoolyard.

Her friend turned around at the sound of his name, spotting the other netsavior immediately as he walked toward him. _ ‘Enzan?’ _

_ ‘Sigma knows there's a traitor. Lumine thinks he will attack, and it'll probably be his final blow.’ _ The frown on his face let Netto understand Enzan was deadly serious, and he knew his friend was probably going against his orders by telling him this. As he saw his look focused behind him, Netto followed it to see his brother silently listening at a distance which let him guess how uneasy he was. He didn't know if Enzan played a role in this, but Meiru's behavior surely did and he would have to talk to her once they were done with Sigma. _ ‘Get Saito back in the cyberworld, we'll need you both if that's the case.’ _

It would be the case. Sigma had made sure he would back them into a corner. All of them. And Lumine knew the few allies he had found among the mavericks wouldn't be enough to get out of this sticky situation without some help. Hopefully, the damage their battles was causing in the physical world would surely be enough to catch the attention of the netpolice. Unfortunately, the netsaviors would have to divide and it was what Sigma was probably counting on. Divide and conquer: a classic.

The copynavi took a step back to avoid the shot which was aiming for his crest, using the buster of the frame he had downloaded from one of his allies. If help didn't come soon, his fake frame might get destroyed and leave him exposed as the leader of the opposition: it was something he couldn't afford! His backup plan wasn't ready yet: if he fell, what he had already given so much for would be reduced to nothing! He moaned when a shot destabilized his right leg's data, before downloading one of the few battle chips he had. The aqua tower deleted his opponent with ease, but another was already coming to replace him. His hit points were dropping at an alarming rate, as dodging soon became impossible when enemy mavericks surrounded him. He couldn't log out—he had nowhere to log out since they had been attacked in the partition which his allies and he had decided to make their binding point. Of course, they had tried to gain some time by fleeing to the second partition, but they had been welcomed by an ambush which they were now fighting.

As he prepared himself for the blow which would force him to give up his borrowed frame, he felt his hit points rising and saw two of his enemies falling to neat shots in their crest from behind. Seizing the occasion, he downloaded a wide sword to slash the three others before they could react. If one managed to dodge, he stood no chance anymore and was deleted barely a minute later. Lumine couldn't hide a smile when he saw which netnavis had come to help, but he kept it quiet about his real identity: he had to be careful after all. Indeed, even though he doubted the Hikari twins would let him get deleted as a revenge for him deleting Rockman, it was still an eventuality he couldn't neglect. 

However, inside Netto's PET, Rockman was perfectly fine. And forbidden of joining the fight. Since he was still officially deleted, his father had refused to let him help unless it was a real necessity. He was their trump card, he said, and they couldn't afford to lose that advantage yet. However, both Netto and he knew it wasn't the only reason: sure, having the mavericks think he was no threat anymore was a thing, but they could see that their father used it as an excuse to keep them from jumping on the front line. For once, they weren't directly involved as Netto and Rockman. No old family grudge, no Duo crest, no one manipulating them, no dark counterpart: nothing especially targeting them. Nevertheless, other battles had broken out and the netpolice only had generic netnavis left. The situation was turning to their disadvantage, and even Meijin had sent his personal netnavi to buy them some time. However, it wouldn't be enough and professor Hikari was perfectly aware of it.

_ ‘Netto!’ _ His son didn't even turn around at the sound of his voice, too focused on the ongoing fight. _ ‘Link Axl and Cinnamon to my PET, I'll operate them.’ _ Finally, Netto raised his eyes to look at his father as he quickly understood what it meant. _ ‘Plug in Rockman to Densan's area B3 using the hub, but try to make sure no maverick can report to Sigma.’ _

_ ‘Rockman?’ _ The loud voice of the commissioner Kifune covered the whispers of the netsaviors, as almost all of them knew that Rockman couldn't possibly have been restored from backup data. _ ‘Professor Hikari, what _ — _ ?’ _

_ ‘Later, sir. This is an emergency.’ _

When the mavericks saw Rockman logging in, they thought of a trick of the copynavi they had seen a few times. However, when a quick analysis of the situation led Netto to directly use Falzar's chip, they realized how wrong they had been: not only Rockman was, obviously, alive, but he would probably be able of deleting them all in their current state. Indeed, the one and only maverick who welcomed the situation was the last from the ones on Lumine's side and his low hit points already hinted he would not see the end of the fight. As for the others, they almost immediately tried to log out, only to be confronted by a lack of connection to the other areas.

_ ‘I isolated your area from the rest of the internet, no maverick will be able to escape,’ _ Meijin informed through a communication window. _ ‘However, you won't be able to send battle chips to Rockman anymore unless you manually connect there. I'll re _ ‑ _ establish the connection if Rockman's hit points are too low, but it's still risky.’ _

_ ‘Thank you, mister Meijin.’ _ Netto then took one of the soul chips out of his folder, ready to use it to end the fight quickly as soon as he skated to the area.

_ ‘You don't need to be so _ — _ Punk!’ _ Meijin looked away from the camera, apparently focusing on his navi who had just been hit. He needed to send him battle chips, otherwise Punk would never win. Meijin gave a last look at Netto, before cutting the communication. _ ‘Make sure your bro _ — _ Rockman doesn't try to play the hero too much, Netto.’ _

After a few minutes of skating, Netto reached the physical counterpart of Densan's area B3 and re-established the link with his brother. With a confident smile, he prepared himself to download the soul chip. Rockman had already gotten rid of a few navis since they had been weaken by those who had been deleted since, so it made it easier for the twins to end the battle. However, although their opponents only had a few hit points left, it was still five against two. Moreover, their only ally would be deleted after the next shot he would take, leaving Rockman alone against the mavericks. Surprising one of their opponents by switching from beast out to soul unison was the only thing Netto could come with to end the fight quickly, and even then it was a risk for his brother. If everything went how he had planned it, the mavericks would be deleted before Rockman would fall in exhaustion. If it wasn't the case… 

_ ‘Ready for a soul chip, Rockman?’ _ As he heard his brother agree, Netto inserted the chip in his PET. _ ‘Soul unison: Blues Soul! Slot _ ‑ _ in!’ _

It would be the case. Everything would go smoothly and no maverick would be able to report to Sigma. However, Sigma had warned them: it was only the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the fight is on! Now, things will only worsen! Mouahahah! Nah, just kidding ^^ Or am I? Who knows?  
(Well, I do, but that's not the point *checks the next chapters* Oh well, that'll be fun. You know what? I am not responsible for this. *jumps out of the window*)  
Next chapter is the part when I completely definitely drastically drifted away from my original draft and went "I am not fourteen anymore and, as the official adult I am so not ready to be, I know better than being unrealistically optimistic about the consequences of Sigma's actions. So... Yeah. Things will happen.


	13. Railway to Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprising one of their opponents by switching from beast out to soul unison was the only thing Netto could come with to end the fight quickly, and even then it was a risk for his brother. If everything went how he had planned it, the mavericks would be deleted before Rockman would fall in exhaustion. If it wasn't the case…  
‘Ready for a soul chip, Rockman?’ As he heard his brother agree, Netto inserted the chip in his PET. ‘Soul unison: Blues Soul! Slot‑in!’  
It would be the case. Everything would go smoothly and no maverick would be able to report to Sigma. However, Sigma had warned them: it was only the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, it's a ref to AC/DC. Yes, it's also the English name of Akihara. Yes, it's technically a pun. No, it'll not make it for what happens in that chapter.

_ ‘A train is out of control! It's heading toward Densan's South station!’ _ one of the people in charge of the information's treatment shouted from the door frame. _ ‘It will collide with another one inside it in fifteen minutes!’ _

Immediately, the commissioner stood up, already giving his orders. They lacked time, and he knew better than waiting for further explanations before carrying the official protocol in those situations. _ ‘Contact all netsaviors in the area! We need to stop this train!’ _

_ ‘Commissioner Kifune, I'm afraid it won't be enough. Most of them are still fighting mavericks!’ _

He didn't need the officer Manabe to know how bad the situation was, but hearing her reminding him of the obvious only made the pressure he had on him even heavier. _ ‘Make them retreat! The train is more important!’ _ His voice was stamped of stress, as he heard that the evacuation of the station would never be done in time. _ ‘We're talking about human lives!’ _

On the screen which kept all of those in the commissioner's office informed of the netsaviors' statuses, almost half of the names were flashing red—a sign which meant their netnavis were incapacitated, whether it was because of low hit points, heavy damages, of deletion. If the ones still in the building were already leaving to join the railway line to plug in the train system, he was mostly counting on those closer who had just received the alert. However, they were barely a half dozen and not all of them would arrive in time: clearly, it would be a miracle if the situation worked in their favor this time. They had been rather lucky up until then, but it seemed it was the end of it.

Although Netto was in the area concerned by the emergency, the commissioner had given up on his usually incredible luck in favor of more realistic statement of the situation: although Rockman had turned out to be alive, even their duo wouldn't be enough this time. A thought crossed his mind as he remembered Enzan wasn't far either, but he quickly pushed it aside with a shook of his head: no matter how strong they were, there was no way they would succeed.

Kifune sighed, as he knew they would try anyway. He hated this part of this job, the one of having to count on actual children because of their synchronization rate. He would rather have to work with adults, the situation would be far less delicate, but those with the same link with their netnavis were rare. Those children were part of the generation which had grown up with netnavis who could act like friends instead of assistants, they had something the previous ones hadn't and would probably never have: a link with their netnavis which exceeded all of what had been thought possible up until then.

_ ‘Commissioner’ _ The voice as well as the face which appeared on his screen made his heart skip a beat, as he wasn't expecting Rockman to contact him like this. _ ‘Where is it possible to plug in the train if leaving from Akihara's south in the next two minutes?’ _

The commissioner didn't question him—he lacked time to do so— and instead simply turned to the engineer in charge of the team who was currently calculating the plug in points for each netsavior, waiting for his answer. _ ‘Yamata?’ _

_ ‘I just sent the location, but the best would be to drive to the railroad crossing I marked instead of the station.’ _ The man frowned, as he seemed to read something, before resuming. _ ‘It would leave about ten minutes to the navi to solve the problem.’ _

As he realized what kind of idea his elder could have in mind, professor Hikari attempted to dissuade him. However, before he could even voice a proper argument, his son opposed his without a single hesitation.

_ ‘If I can get Saito to plug in Cin and Axl at the railroad crossing, they could see whatever is causing the problem before Netto can plug me in. Enzan will get him on his way, but they'll only be able to plug in in barely less than ten minutes.’ _

He had to admit it: Saito was right. Even though it would barely buy them some time, every single second was precious. With a sigh, he gave him the consent he knew he probably wasn't waiting for before the communication shut down. _ ‘Fine… Hurry, then.’_

*****  


The sound of someone running downstairs alerted Haruka, as she was still answering a client through her telephone headset. Without interrupting her explanation that damage done by their own navi wasn't covered by their insurance, she tilted to have a view on the aforesaid stairs. It was surely nothing, but she wanted to make sure it was the case either way. However, when she saw Saito rushing to her, trying to make her understand what was happening through muddled gestures made too fast for her to even catch one clearly, she understood something was wrong. As she politely ended her conversation, she signed him to calm down but, even though he stopped his frantic silent speech, the expression he was wearing betrayed the current emergency. Before his mother could even remove her headset properly, he dragged her to the entrance with the best explanation he could manage. Haruka only got a more detailed version once she was driving to the location Saito had entered in the GPS, and the idea of letting her son plug in a train which could potentially crash wasn't delightful. However, she knew better than trying to dissuade him—it would be pointless anyway. In fact, it would probably be less dangerous if she actually helped. 

They made it to the railroad crossway barely a minute before the train, and hopefully managed to plug in in time as the out of control machine passed.

_ ‘Cinnamon! Axl! Plug in! Transmission!’ _ Such words were familiar to her ears, but Haruka had hoped they would never be pronounced in such a situation. With a sigh, she reminded herself than her sons had always run headfirst into trouble whenever they thought they could help, which was one of the reasons she had been called by their schools so often. Once both navis transferred to the train's cyberworld, her son's PET displayed its holographic screen on which she could recognize the symbol of a weak connection. _ ‘I can't maintain the connection, so you'll have to do without battle chips.’ _

With an almost cocky smile, Axl made his default weapons appear. _ ‘Don't worry, we've got this!’ _ The teenage navi looked a last time at the window in the cyberworld as his guns finished virtualizing. _ ‘Now, go back with Netto! We'll need you here if things get tough!’ _

_ ‘Mom, can you log them out manually if it's necessary?’ _ Haruka almost jumped when she heard Saito, not expecting to see him holding her his PET when he had been completely ignoring her presence a few seconds ago. _ ‘The signal will be weak once the train draw away, it might not work automatically.’ _

She smiled, trying her best to appear reassuring even though she wanted to hold him back. _ ‘I will. Now, go. Be careful, Saito.’ _

He returned her smile as she took the small device, before getting back in the car. Merely a few second later, no movements could be seen in the vehicle as he had plug himself into the GPS to be able to log out to Netto's PET. Keeping her eyes on the screen of the PET although there was nothing she could do, she went back to her car and leaned on the driver's seat, waiting.

  
*****

In the cyberworld, a small army of viruses was surrounding the duo formed by Axl and Cinnamon. As he saw them approach despite his shots, the young copynavi turned to his partner with a begging look.

_ ‘Okay… Cin?’ _ Another shot. Another virus deleted. Still more than two dozen left. _ ‘Any plan to take care of them without getting deleted?’ _

As she wiped a few mettools with a gigantic hand of pure energy, Cinnamon let a pair of wings made from the same blue fluid appear before taking fly to put herself out of reach. _ ‘Keep them at bay, and I take care of those who get too close. I can't regenerate your hit points if I am fighting.’ _

_ ‘Touché.’ _ He dodged an attack, from a pikara this time, and glanced at Cinnamon who was still floating in the air. He scowled when he remember flight was a feature he was supposed to have, but which hadn't been programmed yet because of the events, before focusing on the battle anew. _ ‘I just hope we'll get some help quickly.’ _

Hopefully, help didn't come too late. In the following minutes, multiple navis from netsaviors connected to the area and engaged the fight alongside those already there. From then on, the battle could have seemed already won. However, five mavericks soon appeared to take on the job the viruses were failing to do. They had a great disadvantage, for it was only four official navis against five powerful mavericks with a probable access to battle chips. They didn't know if the three enemies who where out of the fight had been logged out or if they had been deleted, but it didn't matter as they were more focused on the fact that they had lost even the advantage of number. Indeed, not only were they less numerous, but they had also lost a significant amount of hit points. Of course, their opponents were not tired from previous battles the slightest, so it made their current situation even worse.

Not even two minutes after Axl and Cinnamon had set a foot in the train's cyberworld, two familiar faces logged in. Standing on a bridge in the physical world, Enzan and Netto were holding their PET after having sent their navis on the battlefield. As the holographic screens appeared before them, Enzan reminded Blues of the current time limit which had just dropped.

_ ‘Blues, you only have three minutes. The train is speeding up faster than we thought.’ _

The red navi nodded, perfectly understanding what it implied, before turning to the navi by his side. _ ‘Let's go, Rockman.’ _

The blue bomber nodded in turn, activating his buster to join the fight. However, there was one instruction Enzan hadn't reminded Blues of, and he wouldn't need to. An instruction which had, in fact, been there ever since Rockman had been miraculously brought back after sacrificing himself to save Blues from an instant deletion two years ago, but which had become more than a priority in the past few months.

No matter what, don't let Rockman get deleted.

Don't let Saito die.

It wasn't that Enzan thought more of humans than navis, he had revised his judgement a while ago, but the consequences wouldn't be the same. He remembered how devastated Netto had been, even though he had no idea about who Rockman was yet, and he wasn't sure his friend would stand to lose his brother one more time. Losing a friend is hard, but a brother… An only child like him couldn't even imagine the pain. Since Rockman also had a life as Saito, his deletion would also mean that Saito had to die too, and that an explanation would be needed for that. Even without considering what a hurricane of grief it would be, it would be extremely hard to handle. 

This one thing in mind, Blues went on with the battle. Despite showing no sign of concern, he carefully stayed by Rockman's side as to counter any mortal danger. Around them, navis were getting deleted or logged out in extremis, but not in equal amount on both sides. Without battle chips, the netpolice's navis didn't stand a chance and the train was ineluctably approaching Densan's station.

On the PETs, the countdowns started to beep as they went under the last minute. In the meantime, the four mavericks left logged out in the middle of the fight, letting the viruses behind as to keep the train under their control. However, even with their most powerful enemies gone, it would be impossible for the netsaviors to delete the viruses in time. As the beeping intensified, they logged out their navis to spare them a useless deletion. However, two were still fighting: one because he didn't want to give up, the other to protect the first one. The last netsavior to disconnect his navi noticed, fully knowing they were only children who were not ready to face the awful reality awaiting them, and tried to talk them out of this suicidal attempt. 

_ ‘Give it up, kids! We'll not make it!’ _

_ ‘We can't let them die!’ _ was the only answer he got from the youngest one.

_ ‘You can't save them either! So get your navis out of there!’ _

_ ‘But _ — _ !’ _

A hand leaned on Netto's shoulder, as Enzan persuaded him to let go. _ ‘He's right, Netto. We won't make it in time.’ _

Defeated, Netto gave a last look to the countdown as it dropped under thirty seconds. He knew Enzan was right, and he knew no miracle would keep the train from colliding with the other one—he knew he had to give up. Although he wanted to fight until the end, he had to admit it would lead to nothing but his brother's deletion. _ ‘Rockman?’ _

His brother looked down, also knowing it was the only thing left to do. _ ‘I'm sorry, Netto.’ _

_ ‘Plug out…’ _

When Haruka saw Saito disappear from the cyberworld, she called back Axl and Cinnamon. When Enzan saw Netto press his family symbol on his PET, he logged out Blues with a sigh of relief. However, he knew they had failed this time.

In Densan's South station, the hacked train collided at high speed with one which had arrived a few minutes before. The engine derailed, dragging the first cars it tew along with it. As it crashed into the trains nearby, the cars jackknifed into the rubble it made, crushing one another with a startling sound. Screams of metal folding soon left place to those of panic, as the horrible painting started to reveal itself. Some people tried to get out of this metallic hell, agonizing either from the view or from their wounds, but most of them were buried under the wreckage. 

In the distance, the howls of sirens came to tear the silence surrounding the netsaviors as the weight of their failure crushed them. Hundreds of people had died. People they might know. People who deserved none of this. People murdered by psychotic programs gone astray.

The very same kind of programs which they had, at some point, called their colleagues, their friends, for the mavericks from the train all had belonged to officials.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Haruka works. No, she's still a stay-at-home mom.  
Basically, it felt wrong to me for her to stay at home doing nothing because, well... It's set up in the future and all, so... Back when the anime and the games were released, it was more common, but now it's not really the case (I don't think so? I mean, it probably depends of the country and of the background of the family and all?). All the "stay-at-home" moms I know do have a job, whether it's taking care of children (not theirs, of course) or freelance jobs like graphic designer (or even photographs, I mean they spend a lot of time retouching pictures too). Hence, I didn't see Haruka spending her whole day at home without having any job, especially since the twins are already ten by the start of the game. This way, she can be there for them while her husband is who knows where, but she is independent anyway.  
And... It was fun to imagine the twins gesticulating anytime they need to talk to her because of an emergency because they can't just come in and say things like "Netto attacked the board of education" while she is on the phone with a client. Though... Netto must have done it a few times.


	14. Broken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the distance, the howls of sirens came to tear the silence surrounding the netsaviors as the weight of their failure crushed them. Hundreds of people had died. People they might know. People who deserved none of this. People murdered by psychotic programs gone astray.  
The very same kind of programs which they had, at some point, called their colleagues, their friends, for the mavericks from the train all had belonged to officials.

Four hundred thirty‑seven.

It was how many people they would learn had lost their lives in this attack.

Among them, almost a quarter were children.

All those people had found themselves trapped in their car, unable to run from the imminent disaster. All those people had clung to the hope of being saved. All those people… They had failed them. 

It was bound to happen. After all, you can't always save everyone. It doesn't erase the guilt, however, even when you know there was nothing more you could have done. They were too young to understand they needed to have perspective on what happened, despite all they had already being through. In the end, they were only children. They should be the ones being protected, not the opposite. Nevertheless, how many time had they almost given their lives to save adults for whom they were nothing more than reckless children? How many times had they gone against all odds and succeeded? How many times had she feared they wouldn't come back to her?

_ ‘Haruka Hikari?’ _ The voice came from behind her, from an alley out of sight of most people around.

_ ‘Yes?’ _ As she turned around, she discovered the uncommon outfit of the one talking to her. A netnavi, she thought, as he took a step in her direction.

_ ‘I am Lumine. I suppose you have already heard of me?’ _ She stiffened, recognizing the name of the one who had threaten her sons' lives. He smiled in a failed attempt to assure her his intention was not to harm her. _ ‘Good, so you must have a fair idea of who I am.’ _

He saw the frown on her face, the dark glow in her eyes. It was familiar, this air of defiance. However, it was lacking something… The smile. This mischievous grin, a mix of both an undoubtful confidence and a will to have the last word. The smile wasn't there. The smile was specific to her sons.

_ ‘Now, now… There's no need for such a glare, is there? We are on the same side, after all.’ _ Haruka didn't relax, contrary to what Lumine had expected. Apparently, humans cared about their offspring more than he thought—it was something he would have to take in consideration. _ ‘Be reassured, I have no need to eliminate your offspring anymore. However, the same can't be told concerning Sigma.’ _ He waited for a second, examining her reaction as her look remained stern. She wanted to know more, although she wouldn't say it. Inside him, Lumine felt some pride when he perfectly deciphered her emotions but hid it. _ ‘He is after them. Or, rather, he is after Netto and Rockman. Saito would only be collateral damage for him, he doesn't matter.’ _

_ ‘How dare you say one of my sons doesn't matter?!’ _

_ ‘Calm down, you know what I mean. Besides, it's better if Saito is not important to Sigma.’ _ He afforded a look in the direction of Scilab, from where a dark smoke was starting to rise. _ ‘It's over, he has your laboratories.’ _ Immediately, he saw Haruka's eyes widen as she covered her mouth with her hands. _ ‘You don't need to worry, Haruka Hikari. I destroyed your husband's office before coming here, no proofs of anything are left. It would have been inconvenient if Sigma had gotten access to Rockman's ultimate program, or even to his process of creation.’ _ A cuboid black mass appeared in his hand, which Haruka recognized as an external hard drive. On one of its sides, a red circle cut in half by a black bar caught her attention: it belonged to her husband. _ ‘It contains all the backup concerning Rockman's programming. It is the only trace of what your husband did excluding Rockman himself, so take care of it.’ _

_ ‘Did you look at it?’ _

_ ‘Only the last part, but worry not, I know how to keep a secret. Although…’ _

Lumine started to walk in her direction, eventually stepping in the light. It took her a short while before noticing he was actually heading toward her sons, who were still with Enzan on the bridge were they had met after the failure of their mission. She watched him approach them, ready to alert them if he did anything suspicious. He didn't, and only kept walking at a slow pace, knowing the sound of his steps would be enough to make his presence noticeable. Once he saw Enzan eyes on him, soon followed by the twins' ones, he smiled and talked before one of them could.

_ ‘Don't be so downcast, failure was inevitable. Sigma had planned it all.’ _ He took note of their looks as he kept walking. _ ‘What a better way to start his final than inflicting such a defeat to his opponents? Sigma divided us and weakened us so it would be impossible to stop the train, we lost the moment the netpolice intervened. There was nothing you could have possibly done.’ _

At last, Lumine got close enough for what he intended to do. He knew Haruka was too far to stop him, and that the three youths in front of him wouldn't have the time to react. Indeed, despite what they said, they had at least an ounce of trust in him and he would use this. Of course, there was also the fact that he was a netnavi whose speed was greater than the one of humans, but it didn't really matter in this case.

_ ‘I'm truly sorry, Rockman, but I can't afford Sigma to find you.’ _ When Saito realized Lumine's tight grip on his necklace, it was already too late. With a simple pull and a great strength, the copynavi snatched it. The thin metallic chain's clasp briefly opposed resistance, scratching his skin as it broke. In the space of a bare split second, the precious plug unit was crushed by Lumine's hand. _ ‘You and Netto are the bridge between netnavis and humans I need. I can't lose either of you, you are too important for what is to come.’ _

They argued, Lumine knew they would. Enzan was probably the toughest one, since he wasn't as shocked by their failure as the twins, but Haruka had a power on him the copynavi hadn't and kept him from becoming too much of a nuisance. Lumine was glad he had taken her apart to give her some explanation, since having her on his side when it came to protecting her sons sure was an undeniable advantage. However, they were still far too exposed, alone on this bridge near the railroad.

_ ‘You can't stay here, Sigma would be able to find you easily.’ _

_ ‘We should go back to the netpolice HQ,’ _ Enzan stated, _ ‘we need to report anyway.’ _

_ ‘There are no one left to report to.’ _ Lumine's look was cold, as his eyes narrowed.

_ ‘What?’ _

Before Haruka could continue, the copynavi cut her as he set the facts. _ ‘Sigma took advantage of most of the netsaviors being away or weaken to attack. That is how I knew I had to delete Rockman's data at SciLab, since it would probably have been his next target.’ _ He took a second to look at SciLab in the distance, from which no smoke was leaking anymore. _ ‘Events proved me right.’ _

_ ‘But… Yuuichiro… Why?’ _ Her eyes were open wide, as the corners of her mouth dropped. Her words, already barely understandable, slowly turned into a confused muttering repeating itself as she realized her husband was with the netpolice when the attack occurred. They needed to go, to save him. They needed to… 

_ ‘I know, but rushing in will not save him or any of those Sigma captured.’ _

_ ‘I don't care!’ _ This brashness, he knew it all too well by then. He knew Netto wouldn't give up. Humans could be so irrational, it was a shame. _ ‘I'll save my dad even if _ — _ !’ _

_ ‘Netto…’ _

Netto stopped talking, as he felt a grip on his arm. Saito didn't let go, for he knew his brother would run straight into danger if he did. Instead, he locked his eyes in the ones of his twin, hoping it would be enough for him to understand what he meant without the words he was unable to think of. The look he got was pleading, almost making him give in—desperate eyes, incapable of admitting they had to refrain yet knowing it would be vain. 

_ ‘But…’ _

Saito wanted to let go of Netto's arm and go with him, but he knew all attempts would be nothing more than failure. There was something else, however, but he refused to admit it: he was scared. Without the necklace to go back to the cyberworld, he was nothing but a simple human. He wasn't athletic or strong, and definitely lacked stamina. When compared to what he could do in the cyberworld, even weak was an euphemism to describe his current state—in a confrontation, he would be nothing but a burden for his friends. Moreover, crossfusion was out of reach, and there was no way Netto could fight a maverick without it. There was nothing he could do, no way to be the hero this time… There was no way for them to be ones.

_ ‘There's nothing we can do for now.’ _

_ ‘Saito is right, Netto.’ _ Enzan's voice had the merit of catching Netto's attention, which let Saito release his grip without fearing his brother would run wild. _ ‘Our navis need to recover, and we can't crossfuse without SciLab. If we try to fight now, we will be beaten for sure.’_

A voice could then be heard, weak, trembling. 

_ ‘Lumine… Is Yuuichiro alright?’ _

The copynavi looked at Haruka, fully knowing the truth would probably destroy her. Of course, he hadn't seen what had happened at the netpolice headquarters, but he could imagine what would follow well enough. Sigma knew Rockman was alive, and Yuuichiro was the only one he could be sure had some answers. Of course, he would try to get those answers! Even Lumine couldn't tell how far he would go to get them, but there was no need to know it to be sure that, if Yuuichiro wasn't already going through pain and suffering, he would soon be.

_ ‘I can't tell.’ _ It wasn't what he meant, but the words had slipped through his lips before he could hold them back. Truth was that he didn't want to tell her, rather than not being able to.

Haruka seemed to resign, but the glint of sadness in her eyes didn't disappear. _ ‘What should we do then?’ _

_ ‘Disappear. Vanish from existence as long as Sigma is around. Be impossible to track.’ _ Lumine saw an emotion he didn't know in the eyes of those around him, but he felt they understood either way. _ ‘You need to survive to fight back. I'll take care of making sure Sigma thinks he got you.’ _ He then turned to Enzan, whom he considered less important than the twins but still useful. _ ‘As for you and your netnavi, you should probably do the same. Sigma already has my ultimate program, nobody wants him to get his hands on the one Blues has.’ _

*****

Later the same day, Lumine found himself wandering in the empty Hikari house. He had forbidden the twins to get back and had decided to retrieve what they may need himself instead of risking them to perish in an attack. Having to do so wasn't much to his pleasure, but he couldn't afford to lose them; brothers who had grown in different worlds were far from common, after all. Moreover, they were identical twins, which added to the drama he knew the humans would melt for. Once Sigma's threat would be evicted, their stories would provide the material necessary to bring his point on giving netnavis a right to have free will. It would help him to free them from the domination humans had asserted on them, to let them be their equals instead of their servants.

After a few minutes of gathering all the items on the list which had been given to him, Lumine took the bag in which they all were outside. All this gave him the impression of being nothing but a mere domestic, doing shopping for his masters and making sure he would please them, although the situation was drastically more catastrophic. He moaned, as he hid the bag in a bush before getting back inside. He wanted to make sure of something, and started rummaging through the house. He checked every corner, closet, furniture… All he could think of. Eventually, he found one of them hidden under professor Hikari's desk.

_ ‘Just as I thought.’ _

Before his eyes, a small plastic box in which a colorful bunch of wires depicted what he recognized as a bomb. It was undoubted there were more dissimulated in the house, but finding one was the only thing needed to confirm it was the case. He didn't care if it exploded while he was inside, after all he would only be logged out without much damages. However, he knew he had done well with keeping the Hikaris far from their house. The copynavi walked outside, and felt some pressure on his leg. He looked down to see a robotic dog biting him. A pitiful attempt to stop him, he thought, since it was the fourth time he passed in front of the doghouse. Lumine shook his leg, but the small robot hung still. With an expression of somewhat disgust, he snatched the dog from his leg using his hand. Lumine considered putting it back into its doghouse, before remembering it would probably get destroyed alongside with the rest. The dog truly was a creature of a poor intelligence, obviously lower than the one of its organic equivalent, but Lumine couldn't portray himself leaving it to an inevitable destruction. It was an artificial intelligence after all, just like he was—he believed this feeling was called pity by humans. With the dog still held by his hand, he walked to the neighboring house and dropped it on the other side of the fence. It should do, he thought, as he took back the bag hidden in the bush and left. He still had one last thing to do.

*****

The night was silent. The only sounds being the ones of the city, muffled by the distance. Not even an owl's hooting could be heard in this dead night.

And then, there was an explosion. 

The awful noise made the walls tremble, shaking the surrounding houses. Glass shattered, spilling on the floors. Smoke rose as dark clouds in the sky, obstructing the moonlight, as flames lapped the rubble. In a split second, the peaceful neighborhood became a scene of chaos. In a split second, things had changed for the worst.

Meiru didn't know whether it was the sound or the pieces of glass cutting her arms and face which had awakened her. All she was sure of was the black smoke entering her room by the broken window, suffocating her slowly. She didn't have time to think to what could possibly be happening, she had to get out. Carefully, she grabbed her slippers and shook them to get rid of the glass, before putting them on to spare her bare feet the pain of walking on shards. She picked her PET which had been thrown halfway through her room by the blast, not even checking its integrity, as she heard a voice screaming her name. Recognizing her mother's, Meiru ran out of her room to find her in the corridor with her father. A smile of relief made its way on Aria's face as she saw her daughter, before she dragged her outside the house. On their way, Meiru could take note of the wide cracks covering the walls and ceilings and started to understand: something had exploded nearby. 

As they reached the outside, the heat of a fire struck her. It was close, too close. Her watery eyes then fixed upon the dying inferno, widening in shock as she recalled who lived in the house which had once been standing there. Small pearls rolled on her cheeks, shining in the fire's light, as sirens echoed in the night. Soon, more and more of those pearls came from her eyes, and her heart broke.

*****

The next day was a real torture to go through. The incident was on all news, always illustrated with the same pictures of the rubble of what had once been a welcoming house. It was painful to look at it, to think of it. The police had told them three corpses had been found in the wreckage, but nobody needed to wait for them to be identified to know to whom they belonged. People were making more and more theories, most of time missing what could have possibly lead to such an event and it killed her inside. A sad tragedy, they called it: none of them understood it was more than this. They all thought it had happened because of professor Hikari, because he had refused to cooperate with the mavericks. None of them even imagined it was to get rid of his children, of her friends! She trembled, trying to hold her tears as she heard the conversations around her—always the same words, repeated with a tone sounding more and more affected to her ears. 

_ ‘It's truly a shame, his wife and children… The poor man.’ _

_ ‘All this because of navigators again! When will they forbid those things? They only bring us misfortune!’ _

_ ‘So close? Oh my… This is frightening.’ _

_ ‘Meiru? It's late, we should go home.’ _

The last voice was the one of Roll. The only one she wanted to hear… The pink navi didn't ask the fatal question, but Meiru knew she had seen she wasn't feeling well. She tried to smile, to tell her she would be okay, when really it was just a lie. She wouldn't be okay, not anytime soon. She felt broken, and her pieces were too shattered to ever come back together again. Maybe one day she would start to mend, that was what they were all saying, but she didn't believe it. Roll couldn't understand, she wasn't programmed to feel such a grief, to mourn those she had lost… Navis never were, it would be far too inconvenient to have them unable of functioning for such a reason. They felt sad, of course, and Meiru knew Roll was. Indeed, she was as sad as she could get, but it didn't keep her from functioning properly—the same couldn't be said about her operator. 

_ ‘Meiru?’ _

To her surprise, it wasn't Roll's voice. Her eyes rose to meet a familiar red jacket, before they looked down once more. She didn't want to talk, so there was no point in doing otherwise.

He sat next to her, ignoring the dampness of the bench. He stayed there, silent. Meiru didn't know what he wanted, and she didn't want to know either. At some point, he seemed to settle what to do and leaned closer to her. Meiru ignored him, not having the strength to even react. He checked a last time around him, but she didn't notice how cautious he was. Eventually, she felt his warm breath in her neck and became tense. 

Three words. They were all he whispered in her ear. Three words she wasn't expecting anymore. Three words which revived a flame she thought dead. Three words she was desperate to hear.

_ ‘They are alive.’ _


	15. A new hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three words. They were all he whispered in her ear. Three words she wasn't expecting anymore. Three words which revived a flame she thought dead. Three words she was desperate to hear.  
‘They are alive.’

Pain.

A shooting pain, eating away his last hopes.

They had warned him. He had refused to cooperate anyway. He didn't think they would go this far, not so quickly. He had thought it would be their trump card, a last resort to make him talk. It hadn't been. And now the pictures, those images of horror, were engraved in his memories. Those carbonized bodies, burned beyond recognition… Their bodies. It was more than he could take! 

Sobs were shaking his body, contorting his face in the grimace of a pain both physical and mental. Everywhere he looked, he could see nothing but the pictures. They were surrounding him, covering the white walls, haunting. Even when he closed his eyes, he couldn't unsee those harrowing images.

_ ‘Dad?’ _

That voice… Netto's… It was coming from behind him. He closed his eyes, not even turning his head the slightest. He couldn't afford to look, it was a trap. The call was reiterated again, but he kept his eyelids squeezed together.

_ ‘Dad?’ _

It was starting again. First, his wife… Now, Netto. He could tell it was supposed to be him, there was that little thing in his tone which made him sure of it… In its tone. Whatever was this thing with the appearance of his son, it wasn't his son.

_ ‘Why did you let me die? You could have prevented it, you know?’ _

Yes, he knew this. He didn't need any reminder.

_ ‘Just give in already. Others will die if you don't.’ _

He knew!

_ ‘Dad? Please!’ _

_ ‘Stop!‘ _ he snapped. _ ‘You're not Netto! You're not my son!’ _

He could feel its presence getting closer and closer. Tears were gliding on his cheeks again. It was on front of him, so close he would have been able to feel its breath if it had one. Two hands grasped his shoulders, sending shivers in his back, but he kept his eyes closed.

_ ‘Look at me, Yuuichiro Hikari! We will take everything from you if we have to! The longer you persist in that stupid resilience of yours, the more you lose.’ _

The sensation of a warm liquid running on his cheeks mixed with the one of the cold tears as the blade cut through his skin like paper glass. It wasn't half as painful as the blows he had endured for the past hours. Only a thin cut to force him to open his eyes. To force him to see a thing with the face of his son inflicting him the pain he was going through.

_ ‘Enough!’ _

The loud voice echoed like thunder in the room, making the blade stop instantly. Yuuichiro felt the presence move away a little, waiting for an order which soon came.

_ ‘Dead bodies don't answer questions. Let him rest for now.’ _ The voice waited for a sign of approbation, before pursuing. _ ‘Go, I'll have other orders for you.’ _

The presence left, leaving Yuuichiro face to face with the one he recognized as Sigma. Surprisingly, the maverick's leader didn't have the diabolical aura one could have thought he would have, as he slowly approached his prisoner.

_ ‘You can open your eyes, Hikari,’ _ he said in a less threatening voice. _ ‘There is no trick, I promise.’ _

He didn't know why he believed him, but he wanted to see. He wanted to know who was the one who had murdered his beloved ones, as painful as seeing his perfectly calm face was. Indeed, Sigma was completely serene as he leaned on the wall in front of Yuuichiro. His prisoner had hoped he would look as nothing but a monster, but the one his eyes fixed on looked nothing like this. He was a human-like netnavi, built on the model of an athletic man in the prime of life; quite an unusual appearance, he noted. Something reminded him of the doctor Regal, somehow, although he couldn't put his finger on it; probably one of his mannerism, or perhaps more than one. It was unsettling, this feeling of familiarity.

_ ‘I am not here to ask you about the adaptability program again, not this time. However…’ _ Sigma fixed his look in Yuuichiro's eyes, as in an attempt to read his thoughts. _ ‘I believe you worked on the navi project sixteen years ago, am I wrong?’ _

Yuuichiro didn't give any sign it was the case. In fact, he didn't even give any sign he was listening. His stare was on the ground, the only place where no picture had been stuck. It was hard enough to be remembered of those events by Sigma's words, he didn't need to add the pictures to this. However, Sigma knew he was right. He didn't need Yuuichiro to confirm to know he was.

_ ‘I read the official records, and… I recall seeing your team never presented more than a prototype, right? It was written it failed to operate the DNA data as expected, but I was wondering if it was really the case, or if you had chosen not to present your actual result for reasons I have yet to learn.’ _ He smiled as he felt fear, knowing he was probably following the right lead and unaware of the memories he was triggering. _ ‘You see, I could get my hand on Rockman's frame and default abilities through Lumine, and it appears this part of his programming was quite light I must say. Even with a heavy ultimate program added to his core program, it is still too much for a simple navigator. By that I mean there are three Gigabytes in his program I can't explain. Do you know how much it would take to digitize human DNA?’ _ Of course, Yuuichiro knew. Sigma was only trying to make sure he could understand how accurate the information he had found were, after all. And what a better way than forcing him to compare them to what he knew? _ ‘About two Gigas. One more for making the operating of those data possible doesn't seem so much, does it?’ _

Somehow, Yuuichiro was relieved Sigma thought that was all there was to see. Of course, those additional Gigas could be nothing more than DNA data. Indeed, when considering than an uncompressed version of the human genome was added to the usual programming of the netnavi instead of being part of it, it could make sense for someone with only basic knowledge in this field. A netnavi's program was quite heavy, but it couldn't increase size unless manually modified. Even memories were stored in a dedicated space so its size would always remain the same. Even with the maximal storage capacity which could be given to them, those three Gigabytes shouldn't be there and it had been a concern for Yuuichiro. He knew well that, even if the size of the program which held his son's consciousness wasn't problematic with the navi frame displayed, it was still a little too heavy for a netnavi. However, there was nothing he could do to change it. The data were already as compressed as they could be, and he couldn't consider modifying the brain's digital copy part. 

_ ‘I only want to know one thing: was Rockman the result of the Navi project?’ _

Yuuichiro could lie and say no, but it would only make things harder. Sigma was already sure of the answer, and he was somewhat right. Of course, Rockman wasn't exactly a result of this project, for it was Saito's uploaded consciousness which actually made it all possible and not only his DNA. However, Sigma didn't know that, and Yuuichiro would make sure he would never be able to even approach the truth. It would be painful to even try, and he would have to work with the constant reminder of whom he had failed instead of trying to move on, but he would do it. Truth was that he didn't want to move on, not before making Sigma pay for what he had done. Even if it meant he had to work for him a short while.

_ ‘Yes. Yes, he is.’ _

_ ‘Good.’ _ Sigma smiled, and Yuuichiro could tell he wasn't suspecting anything. _ ‘I have some work for you then, professor.’ _  


*****  


Two weeks. It had been two weeks since their bodies had been found in the wreckage of their house, officially anyway. Since the mavericks had took over many infrastructures in Densan, including the one of the police, no autopsy had been realized to confirm to whom the corpses belonged. They weren't going to complain, of course: after all, they were alive only because, officially, these bodies were theirs. It was a little disturbing to think Lumine had stolen them somewhere, however.

Enzan had been of a great help, offering them shelter without anyone knowing it through an old country house which had been in his family for generations but where almost nobody had set a foot since his mother's death. It was supposed to be sold but, as charming as this traditional house was, its location in a small and without network connection village prevented it. However, through some illegal business, it officially was now. It was barely an hour away from Densan, but it was far enough for the mavericks not to find them. They only had to play the part so nobody recognized them. 

It was what Haruka was repeating herself as she was watching the flames dance in the chimney. Her sons were outside, hanging in the streets under a bright sun. The chimney had no reason to be burning other than her will to see the flames. This fire wasn't destructive: it was calming, more than the smokeless ones of modern chimney, and she liked it. It made her forget her husband was at the mercy of the enemy, probably thinking he had lost his family, while she was cowering there.

Someone knocked on the door, and she sighed as she left the couch to open, only to be faced with a towering man holding both her sons. She pinched her nose's bridge, taking a deep breath, as she knew where things were going again. 

_ ‘What did they do this time?’ _

_ ‘I caught one of them trying to jump in a haystack from the barn's roof. I couldn't tell which one it was so I got them both.’ _ While saying so, the man gestured at the twins with his chin as to prove it was impossible to tell them apart. Of course, it wasn't for Haruka, but she could understand. After all, her sons had decided it would be better to slightly alter their appearances just in case, which had resulted in them erasing most of what they usually used not to be confused with the other.

_ ‘Boys…’ _ she sighed.

The answer to her unvoiced question wasn't long to come._ ‘It was Netto…’ _

And neither was Netto's comeback._ ‘You dared me!’ _

_ ‘No. I said "Netto, don't try to jump in the haystack" and you said "shut up Saito, you can't tell me what to do" and climbed to jump in the haystack.’ _

_ ‘Snitch!’ _

It wasn't the first time they had gotten in trouble for such a stupid thing, and Haruka knew Netto wasn't the only one to blame. Both of them needed to take their minds off the fact their father was currently at the mavericks' hands, and it was only a way like another to distract themselves. With a sorry smile, she told the man she would take care of it and closed the door as soon as he left before turning to her sons.

_ ‘Again?’ _

They looked sorry, at least, in their common response. _ ‘We're sorry, mom…’_

She frowned but, before she could say anything else, the disposable phone Enzan had entrusted her with rang. It was one of those old models which didn't use internet to make calls, so Sigma wouldn't be able to intercept theirs. It was probably important, so scolding her troublesome twins would have to wait. Haruka picked up, immediately putting Enzan on speaker.

_ ‘Enzan?’ _

_ ‘Hello Mrs. Hikari.’ _

_ ‘What are you calling for, Enzan?’ _ Even though he couldn't see him, Enzan immediately recognized Netto's voice and understood he was on speaker with the twins too. It was self-evident, since it was rare for them not to be together.

_ ‘I've got news, that's why. Blues and I investigated on the past week's attacks against the mavericks, and they weren't isolated strikes.’ _ Although nobody could see him, Enzan smiled. _ ‘There is a resistance arising. People are starting to fight too.’ _

Those two sentences signed the beginning of the biggest opposition Densan had even seen, for people had decided to fight for themselves since there was nobody left to do it in their place. They organized themselves without the help of internet in order to stay hidden, using the skills and programs of the netsaviors among them. Those who had no home anymore lived in what they called their base, that is saying an old military bunker buried under the city back when Japan had felt threatened by a potential third world war. Enzan himself had had to wait until a member contacted him to know where the resistance was taking place, and it was the rule: you don't find the resistance, the resistance finds you. They stroke and, before the alert could be given, they were back in the shadows once more. They were maverick hunters, peacemakers, protectors. A real network of humans and netnavis working together to take down Sigma. 

It was only once he found himself face to face with the one leading this resistance that Enzan understood the extent of the movement. It wasn't just a few people trying to make a difference, it was a more than twenty teams working together with an established hierarchy dedicated to various types of missions. It was more than what he had imagined, and it suited him just fine.

_ ‘We weren't sure it was a good idea to have you among us. Sure, you and Blues are strong and valuable allies, but you are still mavericks' targets.’ _ The leader took a second to choose his next words, giving an almost worried look to Enzan. _ ‘However, someone convinced me otherwise.’ _

_ ‘If I may ask… Who?’ _

_ ‘Meiru Sakurai.’ _

_ ‘She is part of the resistance?’ _ Enzan was truly surprised, even though he was trying to hide it. Of all people, Meiru was one of the last one he would have expected to find there. Of course, she had seen her lot of fights against more or less dangerous organizations, but it was usually because of Netto. To think that she could have actually gotten involved on her own was quite surprising yet predictable at the same time .

The leader smiled, guessing he had made the very effect he wanted. _ ‘She was among the first.’ _ His smile then disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. _ ‘However, I only have one question…’ _

He paused, his dark hair hiding his face, as he hesitated. He then took a deep breath, the first breath he had taken since the beginning of their conversation, and it was only at this moment Enzan realized why he seemed familiar. His golden eyes looked exactly the same even then.

_ ‘Why didn't you disappear when I suggested you to?’ _  


*****  


Two more weeks passed since Enzan had been introduced to the resistance, and things were going quite well. Amid the multiple rescue missions to heal the infected navis who had been turned insane, they had gathered new pieces of information even Lumine wasn't aware of, some extremely important. Thanks to Enzan connection with Laika, they now had Sharo backing them up. Of course, the country was already extremely busy with its own fight against the mavericks, but knowing they could still provide them with a dimensional area if needed was a relief. It was evident for the government of the cold nation, since this resistance was the closest to Sigma's actual localisation and the more likely to put an end to this war he had started. However, they couldn't always use dimensional areas either: even if the mavericks often attacked the physical world using the materialization program, Densan wasn't the only place concerned. Hopefully, they only had a few new made netnavis compatible with it, so it forced them to rely on SciLab's technology quite often to attack. However, the resistance only had three crossfusion members and a single netnavi compatible with the materialization program at hand, and it wasn't enough.

Thus, even though they had encountered no other problem, Enzan decided it was time to bring the Hikari twins back in the game. After all, they had another copy navi and the original wielder of the materialization program: it could be nothing but an advantage. He had discussed it with Lumine, of course, and the former maverick had had to give in to Enzan's arguments.

Indeed, Lumine didn't see himself as a maverick anymore. Not that the term didn't describe what he was, but he didn't want to be affiliated with Sigma through it. Instead, he had started to call himself an irregular, and he found that it suited him even better. He was more than a regular netnavi: he wasn't bound by the system. Irregular was the perfect word for him. His allies, the ones who had betrayed Sigma with him, soon took on the name as well. It made things easier, less confusing. After all, he was already confused enough.

Indeed, among the important facts the resistance had discovered, one had troubled him. A record, a proof of an event the mavericks had stored. The one of his deletion.

At first, he had thought it was falsified: he didn't remember the fight in which it had occurred, and it was set only a few days after his betrayal. However, it hadn't been falsified at all. It was when it hit him: it was only a few hours before his backup plan would have been finished. The very same backup plan he didn't recall finishing. It made sense, since it would have been perfectly functional anyway: it already had all the memories it needed. Lumine only had to wait for its installation to be completed. And the installation had been completed. And the program had launched itself without encountering any difficulty. His backup plan was perfect, so perfect he hadn't been able to tell he wasn't Lumine.

He was the backup plan.

A doppelgänger. A safety copy with all the memories of the original. A clone which didn't even know he wasn't the real one. It was why the mavericks hadn't been looking out for him. It was why no irregular ever talked of "Lumine". For them, he had been deleted. For him, they had been silent to make sure Sigma wouldn't understand it was him hiding under all those copied frames. 

And he didn't know what to do with this knowledge.  


*****  


Enzan came back one morning to the resistance's base with three individuals whose faces were hidden. Lumine, under his appearance of its leader, came to welcome them. The other members didn't understand why Enzan had been so careful with those new members, especially since they weren't wanted by Sigma as he had assured them. Only one person apart from he and Lumine had the knowledge to guess who they were, and tears of joy began to form in her eyes as soon as she saw the hooded figures in what they called the "hall". As soon as she identified which one was Netto, she ran toward him to hug him. His hood fell when her arms warped around him, revealing his face. There was a minute of silence, a lot of people not even recognizing him without the symbol on his bandana. And then, in an astonished breath, one sentence.

_ ‘You are Netto Hikari…’ _

And people understood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! Sigma appeared! And he is... not special at all? Hey! Not every villain has the word "villain" written in big red letters on their forehead! I wanted the guy to look like a "not villain" character, so he doesn't look evil, he doesn't feel evil, he is not evil. Wait... No, forget the last part. But you can hate on Jakob.  
Come hating Jakob with me.  
(If some want to come comfort doppelgänger Lumine, we're having a session. Not real Lumine though. The guy's deleted. And I won't hold a session for him. Because I somehow never managed to like him.)
> 
> PS: Let's face it, Meiru totally joined the resistance because red jacket guy told her that the Hikaris were alive. All hail red jacket guy! XD  
(The day Enzan put on something other than his red jacket, I will stop calling him "red jacket guy". Oh, wait. That won't ever happen because the anime is over. And the games. And the manga. And everything. Enzan is now "red jacket guy" forever!)


	16. A thin line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a minute of silence, a lot of people not even recognizing him without the symbol on his bandana. And then, in an astonished breath, one sentence.  
‘You are Netto Hikari…’  
And people understood.

The plan to take down Sigma was becoming more and more of a reality, each new information being used to make sure it would be foolproof. Rescue missions were still one of the main actions of the resistance, and they had gained countless allies through them, but they had also lost some of their members. However, the mission Lumine was planing wasn't exactly of the same type. Indeed, his teams had encountered the ex-members of WWW more than once in the past weeks, and they seemed better at breaking into the mavericks' bases than he would have first though. Thus, this rescue mission was more of a recruiting one. After all, they needed powerful netnavis and it didn't matter whether their operators had had to redeem themselves at some point.

The squad left in the middle of the night, taking advantage of the shadows to join the place where their targets had been reported. It had reached the ones it was looking for without trouble, and soon engaged discussion. The squad leader was the only one talking, with its second giving pieces of advice from time to time: it was how they were used to work, and their temporary member for this mission would have to do with it. However, the aforesaid temporary member had seen something none of them had payed attention to, and he didn't need anyone to give him orders to choose what to do. His hood keeping the moonlight from lightning his face, he discreetly stepped out of his group to get closer to the ones they wanted to turn into allies. Amid this group of three adults, there was a teenager, barely a year older than him. This teenager was his personal target.

He was arguing along with his adult teammates, insisting that he didn't trust people working with former mavericks. Coming from someone working with the ex-member of a criminal organization, it was ridiculous. He didn't notice the silhouette coming closer, only to jump when its voice talked to him.

_ ‘You're being stupid, Dekao. You work with former enemies too.’ _

The voice was familiar. However, Dekao refused to believe it belonged to the one he had thought of. The ex-members of WWW had also heard, but they weren't as used to this voice. Dekao was: he had heard it for years. He turned around, facing the hooded member of the resistance with a silent fear. Two hands pushed down the hood, revealing spiky brown hair which no longer lacked a bandana. And a face Dekao thought he would have never seen again.

_ ‘Netto?’_

His fear became joy, as he understood his friend was alive. However, he wouldn't touch him, or even get closer, as if trying to do so would make him disappear. He was too happy to even talk, and it amused Netto to see his old friend so discomfited. This mission would be a success, just like the one to retrieve some battle chips gates Enzan was taking part in. However, there was a third mission taking place on that night. A solo mission.

Under the appearance of Violen, a maverick with which the original Lumine had worked, Lumine had infiltrated a maverick base. Steal the data, then retreat: the plan was simple. Alone, he couldn't risk much after all. He wasn't supposed to follow this IP address. However, the secrets which could be lying in the computer it belonged to were so appealing! It could hold the answer to what Sigma was, and to who had created him. It could hold the answer to why he was doing all of this!

His borrowed frame appeared in the computer's system after hacking the security. It had been easy, after all he had some of Sigma's data inside of him. The machine was running multiple programs at the same time, and Lumide had a hard time separating the ones watching the building the computer was in from those he wanted to investigate on. Eventually, he found two programs amid the others which were holding the keys to understand Sigma: an equivalent of Pulse Transmission—the secured version used by hospitals—and another one generating an avatar. Two programs which had started to be run together four years ago, many hours each day. With quick moves, Lumine forced the webcam the computer was equipped with to record for a few seconds. He didn't bother watching as he used those precious seconds to copy the data which interested him: staying in that computer longer than necessary was a useless risk when he could take the data to analyse them later. However, before leaving, a small diary software caught his attention. It only had a few entries, so it definitely was a private journal, but it was enough to trigger his curiosity. Hence, he copied it too before logging out. He would have work to do once back at the base, but a very specific idea was looming in his mind, one he knew was probably the truth he had been incapable of finding up until then.

*****

Later the same week, Lumine re-read the few sentences he had extracted from Sigma's logbook while analyzing it. Coupled with the video recorded and the programs' data, those few sentences were a short summary of how a perfectly sane man had come to think of declaring war on humanity as the only way. How a man had descended into such a madness in a few years, at a point he was responsible for one of the greatest global cyber attack ever organized. 

Lumine's eyes passed on the first entry again, one which could have never left it possible to presume what would come next. He mimicked the words on his lips once more, not even trying to understand anymore. He had read and re-read those very same sentences over and over, and he could only be sad to see how all this had turned.

_ 09/12/2047 – Entry 1_

_ I finally got my hand on this program, and I am about to test it. [...] I spent a lot of time creating the avatar, making sure it would be compatible enough so I can use it. [...]_

_ The test went wrong, and my consciousness was sent back as soon as I tried to use the avatar. Some adjustments are needed, but I am confident. [...]_

*****

With a sigh, he decided to read the paper, since his brother seemed more appealed by the training some members of the resistance were making their navis go through. It wasn't surprising, however, reading reports had never been something he enjoyed. Indeed, most of time, he let his own navi do it and waited for an oral summary, which the aforesaid navi—who was also himself—usually accepted if he did his homework in the meantime. This time, there was no homework to be done, but still reports to read… Although he wondered what he could get him to do in exchange.

Saito looked one last time at Netto, waiting for him to notice, before silently signing him he was heading back to the sort of dormitory in which they had their beds. It was one of the inconveniences of living underground in an old bunker: they had no way to use networks but going outside, which meant they couldn't call each other to know where they were. They also had to share room with others, which wasn't exactly practical when they had to talk of rather sensitive subjects. However, they were lucky on that point since Lumine had decided they wouldn't be in the group room. Indeed, since it was the only one not equipped with beds, it had been decided that it would be more of a living room than a dormitory. Instead, they used the military rooms on the floor above: at least, they had metallic bunk beds. In their case, they shared the four beds room with Enzan when he stayed at the base for the night, and their mother was occupying the last one. Indeed, as long as they had enough rooms, Lumine wanted them to stay with people who already knew about Saito being Rockman; it was only a precaution, he said. It wasn't suspicious, since almost no room were occupied by people with no relationship of any kind. Indeed, only a few members of the resistance lived permanently in the base: the others still had a place outside, or they lived in more comfortable shelters provided by the city if their house had been destroyed in an attack. In fact, those who lived in this underground base were those who were targets of choice for the mavericks, mostly.

When Saito lay on his bed, he had already read the extracts of the first entry of Sigma's logbook on his way. He could have started one of the three actual reports of the previous's day missions, but the single piece of paper with the few sentences Lumine had judged essential to the comprehension of Sigma's thoughts had triggered his curiosity. He already knew Sigma was originally human, it was the first thing Lumine had told them when he had come back from his mission, and he somehow wanted to know if his story was similar or not.

_ 09/21/2047 – Entry 6_

_ The avatar is perfectly functional, and I spent the last hours exploring the cyberworld around me. It is exciting, more than I would have thought. [...] I will try to program weapons in it, to make it more similar to a navigator. After all, I can't afford being caught as a human in the internet. [...]_

Saito smiled, remembering the first time he had been able to explore SciLabs's cyberworld: he had found it so exciting to be on this side of the screen. Back then, he hadn't truly realize what it implied for him. After all, he wasn't even seven: the dangers from both the cyberworld and the physical one were not something he could completely understand. He thought having to bust virus was awesome, but he didn't know deletion would be the end of the road for him. Navis could almost always come back after deletion, so why couldn't he?

The next extracts, however, didn't remind him of the best moments and he could understand why Sigma seemed so upset in his writing.

_ 01/13/2048 – Entry 15_

_ [...] It is surprisingly sad how people treat their navigators. It is an evidence when on this side of the screen that they are not mindless servants, but some people seem not to care. [...]_

_ I should try to see if I can mimic their more automatic behavior. I need to act like them if I want to conduct the experiment successfully. [...]_

Even though he wasn't sure the experiment mentioned was a good thing, he couldn't help but wanting to know more about it. He kept reading, trying to understand by almost systematically comparing to his own experience.

_ 03/09/2048 – Entry 30_

_ My avatar is now indistinguishable from a navigator, and I can fake their attitude with ease. The experiment can finally begin. [...] If they really have a form of consciousness, our judicial system would have to be entirely remade. [...] We would have to give them rights, as any beings with a level of conscience similar to ours. [...]_

_ 05/10/2048 – Entry 37_

_ The incidents with the bursting ovens have been solved, I can resume the second part of the experiment. [...]_

_ It truly is a challenge to determinate whether navigators have a form of consciousness or not. It is no surprise, however, since they were programmed [...] to behave as human beings would. The flaws in their programming does not allow most of them to perform actions without their operator's consent. [...] My hopes are in the last generation of artificial intelligence, the RePloid 2.0. [...]_

_ 09/26/2048 – Entry 51_

_ Navigators have a form of consciousness, I know it! I need to find a way to prove it! [...] I persuaded a group of last generations that I am one of them, it will help. [...] I must say that spending time in their company even is a pleasure, they are far more interesting than the ones I get to talk with in the real world. [...]_

That was it. That was when Sigma's madness started. It had to be. Saito could see how the writing had changed from a human exploring the cyberworld to one living in it. It was sad, however, to see how his experience from the other world had led him to despise the one he came from.

_ 03/14/2049 – Entry 110_

_ [...] I will never walk again, and I will have to stop the experiment to leave time to my body to recover from this car crash. Humans should let navigators drive their cars, at least they rarely cause accidents. [...] With some luck, no new criminal organization will arise while I recover. [...]_

_ 08/28/2049 – Entry 156_

_ I barely leave the cyberworld anymore, at least there I am not disabled. [...] I have given up on the experiment: proving the navigators share a form of self-awareness will have to be enough. Humans need to understand they are not their slaves. I will not tolerate such a treatment anymore! [...]_

_ I have already started a software than could remove the default traits to let them be free of displaying their true personality. I want to give them the rights they deserve. [...]_

_ 01/31/2050 – Entry 234_

_ Another crime syndicate, for a change. Humans truly are pitiful creatures, incapable of coexisting without bloodshed. [...] Navis, at least, can live together without much problems. It would actually be legitimate to wonder if they would not be superior to humans in matter of sociability. [...]_

It was the end of the page, but he could see by transparency that a last entry was on the other side. He winced, not sure he wanted to know anymore, before resigning: he had to read it anyway. A few words typed by Lumine indicated it was the last entry of the logbook, but it was almost a year old. Apparently, Sigma had stopped writing when he had started to act according to the plan he had thought of.

_ 06/18/2050 – Entry 266_

_ This body is nothing more than a useless bound to the human's realm, and a broken one on top of that. I need to find a way to get rid of it, I'm sure there is one. However, it will have to wait: the plan is more important. [...]_

_ Eventually, humans will understand where their place is: below the creations which have proven to be more perfect than them multiple times. [...] I don't consider myself as one them anymore._

The paper glided to the floor without any sound, as Saito kept staring emptily at the bed above him. He wasn't horrified, not at all. He could even understand why Sigma had came to such a conclusion, and it actually was what was disturbing him. 

He could perfectly understand.

_ ‘Saito?’ _

The voice called him back to reality abruptly, and he almost let the reports laying on his legs fall on the floor only to see his mother in the door frame. Haruka gave him a smile, before coming in the room to sit on the bed.

_ ‘You were reading the reports?’ _

Her son looked away, and she noticed he was actually staring at a sheet of paper on the floor. _ ‘Not the reports…’ _

_ ‘His journal, right.’ _ She took a second to choose whether to change subject or not, but decided it was probably the reason Saito seemed so disturbed and that talking about it could help. _ ‘I read it too.’ _

He remained silent for a minute, before sitting up straight and putting the reports on the bed, between his mother and him. He reached for the paper, rereading some sentences as he picked it up.

_ ‘I could have turned out like him.’ _

He felt her hand on his shoulder, turning around to see her soft, reassuring smile._ ‘But you didn't. And I know you never will.’ _

_ ‘How can you be so sure?’ _ he asked, as if doubting himself.

Haruka remained speechless for a second, not expecting the question. It was an evidence for her, to be so sure. The simple idea of one of her sons doubting it broke her heart, especially when they both used to be so optimistic. Of course, they were growing up: they could see the world wasn't as simple as they thought, but it wasn't the first time they were confronted to such events. However, she knew her sons. She knew they would pass through this, even if it was hard. She had no netnavi to help them in the fight, and merely any skills they could use, but she would help anyway. She would be there for them, she would be the life preserver which would keep them above the waters if she had to: she would always be there.

A smile made its way back on her face, and she leaned closer to Saito.

_ ‘Well, first, it's not like you.’ _ Haruka then waited for him to notice how close she was, just so he would understand what she was about to do while lacking the time to react. And she embraced him, squeezing her son as when he was still a toddler. _ ‘And second, I'd stop you right away!’ _

He tried to push her back, but she held him tight. _ ‘Mom! Please!’ _

She laughed, ignoring his complains. She could still wait a few minutes before telling him Lumine wanted him in the debrief room, it wasn't an emergency either. She could take a minute or two but, no matter how many she would take, they would never make up for the lost years.

Because time can't be made up for.

Lumine was perfectly aware of it too. He had spent the night trying to come up with a plan which took in consideration the fact that Sigma had a human body he knew where to find. Of course, he could simply go there, materialize, and kill him right away. After all, it wasn't as if there was anything to stop him. One single death for thousands lives, it wasn't the cost which was keeping him from doing it. However, he doubted that by taking Sigma down, he would stop the mavericks. He was their leader, but he was sure there would be someone else to take his place as soon as he fell. Besides, Sigma was probably the only one to know everything and they could use this knowledge. Moreover, a netnavi deleting another netnavi was a thing, but one slaying a defenseless human was another. Lumine needed the humans' trust if he wanted them to agree with his ideas, there was no way he would ruin everything if there was another path.

He hadn't written the part about the fact that Sigma still had a body in his report, only that he had been human once: somehow he felt that writing it down would be as condemning them to kill him, to have his blood on their hands. He wasn't sure that deletion meant death for him, however, even though it was the case with Pulse Transmission. Still, it was a risk he was unwilling to take. Of course, he could have still lied and say that he didn't know, but…

_ ‘Wait, you mean that Sigma was human?!’ _ The exclamation took him by surprise, as he was lost in his thoughts. A long second was needed to process the words, before Lumine could even realize they were addressed to him. However, he didn't have the opportunity to answer before Netto gently gibed his friend.

_ ‘You'd knew if you had read the report, Dekao!’ _

There was a short moment of silence among the youths, as a simple sentence was whispered under someone's breath.

_ ‘Say the one who didn't read it either.’ _

Netto didn't even bat an eye to what was obviously meant to nag him, being way too used to his brother's usual remarks when it came to do whatever could be considered as work. _ ‘Lumine had told us, so I don't need to.’ _ He put on a grin as he shrugged. _ ‘You'd have summed it up to me anyway!’ _

_ ‘Netto!’ _ Meiru scolded her friend.

Lumine let a sigh slip; obviously, none of those children cared about the reason they were in this room anymore. Truly, having to work with them was exhausting! It wasn't that he didn't appreciate them—although it was indeed the case at first, or at least it was for the original Lumine—but it would have probably been easier of they were a little older. Then again, he had no control over this kind of things. However, he could catch snatches of conversation which actually let him know they were explaining what they knew to each other among the teasing, meaning they hadn't really forgotten the reason of their presence as he had first thought.

Nevertheless, one hadn't joined the talk and kept himself a little away from the others. Enzan, of course… Lumine would have expected it. He observed the teenager as he seemed to notice something. A frown, and a look towards the ground made him guess he was recalling something. Knowing Enzan, it was probably about the current events. He then took his PET, as Blues's face appeared on the small screen.

_ ‘Blues?’ _ he asked.

The navi was quick to respond, his expression made unreadable by his dark shades._ ‘Yes, Enzan?’ _ His tone was calm, but not cold either. 

_ ‘The report was unclear about whether Sigma is a full navi or not, wasn't it?’ _

_ ‘I do remember so.’ _

Enzan took a few seconds to think, before voicing an hypothesis which wasn't meant to be heard by anyone but his navi. _ ‘If he turned himself into a navi, do you think there could be a chance he would understand about…’ _He gave a look at the twins or, rather, at the oldest one, and Lumine understood what the end of his sentence actually was. Enzan was right, even though he didn't know whether Sigma was still human or not, he could tell what one of the greatest risks they could face was.

Blues answered the unfinished question without even doubting what it could have been. He knew Enzan, he could tell what he wanted to say. He could tell he already knew what his answer would be. _ ‘It can't be excluded.’_

It was the right moment, Lumine thought. It was the right time to come back into the conversation and finally give them the details he had saved for the mission he was about to entrust them with. He started to talk, drawing all the attention back to him in a split second.

_ ‘Enough babbling. I asked you to come to explain to you what your roles will be to take Sigma down, not to chat.’ _ His eyes narrowed as a confident smile made its way on his face. This expression was unusual for him, unnatural, but it felt right in the moment. _ ‘You will be our trump card.’ _

*****

The plan was perfect, although he needed to reveal a few things to Dekao to make it work. It wasn't what he had intended for but, now that he was there, it was better to do so. After all, even though the fourteen year-old probably knew Rockman was alive—it would make sense, since he had been told the blue navi hadn't been deleted and that nobody was in the Hikari house when it burned—having him understand who Saito actually was in the middle of the mission would be a problem. Besides, he was the link he needed to get the ex-WWW to work alongside him.

There was knocking on the door, before it opened to reveal the ones he was thinking about. He smiled as Maha, Hinoken, and Madoi came inside the room, and explained they would be part of their team too. After all, fighting with familiar figures was an undeniable advantage, even though they had once been enemies. When Lumine was asked what the plan was by Enzan, his polite smile turned into one of contentment.

_ ‘Really, it is quite simple,’ _ he said. _ ‘The other teams will help you get in and will distract the mavericks, you don't need to know more about their parts. Then, once you're in, you will split in two small teams: those who can crossfuse, and those who can't.’ _ Lumine took note of the looks he was receiving, guessing they all understood he planned on using crossfusion to take the fight in the physical world. _ ‘Dekao, Madoi, Hinoken, and Maha, you will reach the control room to command the satellite. I will give you all the instructions you'll need in time. As for the other part of the team… You will fight Sigma with me.’_

There was a short moment of silence, before Hinoken voiced what half of the group was wondering.

_ ‘Wait, why are Netto and his brother on the crossfusion team?’ _

Lumine smiled, finally getting to what he knew needed to be told. _ ‘Well, because they can crossfuse.’ _

A look was exchanged among those who knew the truth, a mix of worry and curiosity to what Lumine would say. It was what the copynavi was waiting. He needed their attention so they could follow him.

_ ‘With that nurse navi?’ _ Dekao burst out laughing, imagining what such a thing would look like. _ ‘I wanna see that!’ _

Indeed, the thought of a possible crossfusion with the light colored navi was quite amusing to have. How would the features of such a delicate nurse merged with her netop? Crossfusioned appearance were influenced by the personality of the human counterpart of the duo, but they remained close to what the navi looked like anyway. Netto would go for a style similar to the Roll soul, although without the pink colored theme, but there was no actual way to know. It was another crossfusion he would like to see, along with one between Dekao and Gutsman, but which would probably never happen.

As for Cinnamon, she felt uncomfortable at the thought. Silently listening from inside her PET like all the navis around, she rejected the idea of letting her operator physically fight this way. In fact, she purely and solely rejected the idea of letting him fight. Of course, she wouldn't be left a choice but helping him battle, but she didn't have to like it. Her job was to protect him, to keep an eye on him: it was the reason she had been created for, and it was engraved deeply in her programming. No new threat should have arisen, life should have been simple! Then why? Why did she have to go against what was her reason to be?

Even Lumine could understand how wrong it felt to her, albeit he couldn't see her. He had never counted on her to go against what she held to be her values, even though they had been forced into her through her programming. She would learn, eventually, that she didn't have to be bounded by them. She, and all the others, would one day learn to live without lines of code limiting their actions. One day… But the fight to get there had already begun. He shook his head, focusing back on the conversation.

_ ‘Oh no, not with her. Although Cinnamon could be quite useful if you come across mavericks before we get the satellite back.’ _ He would have stopped there, but Lumine figured out a warning could do no harm. After all, they wouldn't get a second chance and he might as well give it to them while he was thinking about it. _ ‘However, using the materialization program must be a last resort: Sigma can't know you are alive before you get to him.’ _ He smiled, looking at the elder twin as he started to brought up the touchy part of what he had to say. _ ‘Besides, you will need her to watch over Saito if he is unconscious.’ _

He didn't have to wait for reactions, as Madoi almost immediately understood there was something quite important which hadn't been told to them—or, at least, to half of them. 

_ ‘Why would he—’ _ she started, before getting cut by the first concerned.

_ ‘You mean, I finally get to fight?’ _ There were sparkles in his eyes. He wasn't worried he would spill his secret: he hadn't even thought of it. All he knew was that he would finally be useful instead of wandering in the base. He would finally be back to be Rockman and there was almost nothing he had missed more than this.

_ ‘You? No.’ _ There was a glimmer of mischief in Lumine's eyes as he played with Saito's hope for a second, before confirming that he would indeed be back in the battle. _ ‘However, we may need Rockman.’ _

_ ‘Hasn't Rockman been deleted?’ _ Maha asked, a form of suspicion apparent behind his calm looks.

As he heard the words, Saito remembered what it implied: not only had they let them believe Rockman was dead, but they had also hid them he was Rockman. He creased the sleeve of his navy blue hoodie—the very color of his suit as Rockman—biting his lip as the conversation went on, and soon felt Netto's hand on his. His brother was smiling, the kind of smile which meant "it'll be alright" even though he was obviously tense too, before someone else spoke.

_ ‘By you?’ _

This last sentence was more of an affirmation than a question, and Lumine could feel the anger burning in Hinoken's eyes. This anger, it wasn't only directed to him; there was a part of it directed at himself somehow. Despite their rough beginning, the reformed criminal had come to care about the blue navi more than he would have liked it and, even though nothing had been said, the three ex-members of WWW all shared this fondness of he and Netto. The news of their deaths had troubled them more than they wanted to admit it, and the bitterness wouldn't leave them before long even without those news being true. However, they didn't know yet. Netto had survived thanks to Lumine's tricks, but, for all they knew, the one they were reluctantly working with had deleted the blue bomber; and Lumine couldn't tell whether he should reveal he had never intended to do so to ease the tension between them or let them believe he was the original Lumine. Slightly shaking his head, he decided this truth would be left for later and went for the story he had made up.

_ ‘So did I thought, but all those youths here can testify it is not the case,’ _ he said, fixing his eyes on the ones he knew were aware of Rockman's survival. _ ‘However, Yuuichiro Hikari forced him to stay hidden so he would be safe and, thus, Rockman the netnavi was gone.’ _ His tone was too lighthearted for the subject. He knew it would sound wrong said this way: it was the point. He wanted them to guess what he would say, he wanted them to make those links by themselves. He smiled as if it was nothing, and resumed his speech. _ ‘Then, since his health had finally improved enough, Rockman came back home.’ _

Lumine held back what he still had to say, waiting for someone who would notice a choice of words which shouldn't be used to describe a netnavi's state—or, rather, for someone who would voice the fact they had noticed. His eyes scanned the room, observing every single expression line. He could see disbelief, surprise, fear. However, among all those unclear emotions, he could see hope.

_ ‘Health?’ _ There was skepticism in this interrogation, and Madoi had all rights to have doubts: after all, netnavis couldn't be healthy, nor could they be unhealthy. It wasn't a term used to describe their state, and it sounded wrong to anyone who knew what navis were.

Lumine gave her a smile he wanted nice, but what the corners of his mouth depicted was more of a mocking grin. _ ‘Yes, one of your greatest opponent was indeed an ill child using an avatar,’ _ he said. _ ‘Even Netto didn't know, since Rockman didn't want him to guess who he actually was so he could keep on being his netnavi while he couldn't physically be around. However, unlike Sigma, he was still bound to the real world.’ _

Lumine saw Dekao give an insisting look at Saito, as the teenager detailed the similarities between him and Rockman. He had understood, but believing it was much harder. Of course, similarities were numerous, but differences weren't nonexistent either. Had he really been this blind? Had he really been unable to notice one of his childhood friend had hidden such a thing from him? That his own brother had been around the whole time? He flinched: it wouldn't be the first time. He looked around, and saw how Enzan's eyebrows were slightly frowned, how Meiru was avoiding to look at anyone. They knew, both of them. Since when? Enzan, he didn't truly care, but Meiru? How long had his Meiru kept this secret? 

_ ‘He was hidden in plain sight, and only a few people noticed.’ _

Lumine's words were what confirmed what he refused to believe was indeed the truth; that this frail brother of Netto was the very navi who had been capable of tackling all those powerful opponents they had had to face.

_ ‘It's Saito, isn't it? Rockman. It was Saito all along,’ _ affirmed Maha, without even batting an eye.

Dekao could have sworn Lumine had been surprised by Maha's calm, but reading expression wasn't one of his talent and the copynavi tended to show only what he wanted the others to perceive. Indeed, his answer was flat of any emotion. _ ‘Not so hard to guess when said like this.’ _

As Lumine said so, Hinoken spun around to face Saito—who believed and hoped his presence in the room had been forgotten despite being the main subject of conversation. Not expecting to be taken in consideration anymore, the child jumped when he found himself face to face with the man.

_ ‘It was you who beat Torchman?!’ _

Immediately, something clicked in Dekao's mind as the last ounces of doubt vanished to let place to another kind of disbelief. _ ‘And my Gutsman?!’ _

A muffled laugh, failing to be contained, could be heard in the now silent room as Saito tried to stutter an answer. Immediately, the grave atmosphere let place to a more lighthearted one.

_ ‘Well…’ _ —he looked desperately at his brother— _ ‘Netto?’ _

_ ‘Sorry, Rockman!’ _ Netto managed to say despite his laugh and Meiru scolding him for having an "inappropriate behavior". _ ‘It's just—! You pulled on such a face!’ _

As he saw all tension disappear, Lumine let out a sigh he hadn't realize he was holding. Everything would go smoothly, and none of them would see the discreet inconsistency in this story he had made up in less than a night. Those who knew the truth wouldn't say anything, he was sure of it. At last, they could work out the details in their counter-attack plan.

At last, they would eventually be ready to take the mavericks down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if it's hard to differentiate the logbook's extracts from the rest, but I can't use a different font here like it's the case on my original doc…


	17. Who you really are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As he saw all tension disappear, Lumine let out a sigh he hadn't realize he was holding. Everything would go smoothly, and none of them would see the discreet inconsistency in this story he had made up in less than a night. Those who knew the truth wouldn't say anything, he was sure of it. At last, they could work out the details in their counter-attack plan.  
At last, they would eventually be ready to take the mavericks down.

The thin chain wrapped and unwrapped around his fingers, repeatedly. He felt uneasy, nervous—it was something he had never known how to hide. They would finally strike, attacking the mavericks in what they had turned into their base. It would finally be the end of this horror. 

In the same room, he saw Dekao with his eyes fixing his PET. He seemed stressed too, but also struggling with a decision he had to take. Probably using Gutsman' backup program, he thought; there wasn't much to do with his empty PET otherwise. Hence, he observed, trying to see if Dekao would push the emblem to launch it. He hoped he would, but— 

_ ‘Saito?’ _

He turned around, his eyes meeting the ones of his brother but unable to see the button being pushed. Contrary to most of them, Netto didn't seem nervous—it didn't mean he wasn't, of course: he knew his brother.

_ ‘You're ready?’ _ Netto asked.

He nodded, despite not feeling ready at all. It wasn't only about fighting mavericks this time: their father was there too. He quivered at the idea he probably thought they were dead, knowing they had left him believe so for months. Netto felt the same, he was sure of it, but both wanted to be reunited with their father. The possibility it might not be the case wasn't one they wanted to think about, one they dared to consider. 

_ ‘Netto! Saito!’ _ a voice called. _ ‘Can someone get me back into a PET?’ _

They both grinned, Axl had arguably the worst timing. With a movement he had done thousand times before, Netto connected the red laser of his PET with the screen of the computer they used for netbattles, allowing the copynavi to get back. 

In the meantime, Cinnamon appeared on Saito's shoulder, barely having the time to tease Axl before he was transferred back to Netto's PET. 

_ ‘I'm glad I am not your operator.’ _

Axl almost immediately used the holographic function of the PET, unwilling to communicate without being able to see who he was talking to._ ‘Cin, no offense, but…’ _ —he pointed at her overall appearance— _ ‘You're a navi. I do hope you're not my operator!’ _

Even thought he was expecting the nurse navi to answer him, it actually was Netto who picked up the talk. _ ‘Some navis proved to be perfectly capable of operating, you know?’ _

Axl snickered, not even wondering what was the undermeaning of what Netto had said nor if people could hear him._ ‘You're talking about your brother now, aren't you?’ _

_ ‘Actually,’ _ Saito answered for his brother. _ ‘I think he was thinking of the darkloids.’ _

_ ‘No,’ _ Netto said with a grin, seizing the opportunity he had just seen. ‘ _ I was really talking about you.’ _

Immediately, Saito's face lightened at the compliment._ ‘Really?’ _

Axl muffled a laugh, amused by such a childish behavior, and put on the best bored face he had to roll his eyes. _ ‘Oh no… The kid's bubbling again.’ _ Babbling. He meant babbling. Then again, he couldn't go back and rephrase it. And he would never correct himself.

_ ‘Axl!’ _ scolded Cinnamon without even raising he was only joking.

_ ‘Whatev'!’ _

He shrugged, he should have seen it coming. After all, Cinnamon didn't know second degree… Something he should definitely teach her, since he couldn't count on Saito for it—not like if he could or would trust Saito with anything related with humor: he had heard a few puns and it was enough. Then, he remembered the reason he had come back instead of having fun with other navis in the computer—a certain pink navi, it was—and turned to Saito.

_ ‘Roll wanna see you,’ _ he said, wincing. _ ‘Something about a talk, sounded serious.’ _

Saito looked down, remembering how long it had been since he had actually exchanged more than a look with his friend. _ ‘Well, we didn't really talk since…’ _ —he hesitated, unwilling to raise those events— _ ‘Well, the house.’ _

_ ‘Yeah, Meiru kinda avoided us... and the subject,’ _ Netto continued. _ ‘I couldn't even explain!’ _

He didn't mention what he wanted to explain—there were people around them, after all—but it wasn't needed: they all knew. This explanation, it was the one he had promised himself to give her right before all this madness started; the one he—no, _ they _ owned her. As much as he would have loved to learn Roll had taken care of it, he wasn't an idiot. There was very little chance it was the case. Navis couldn't spill secrets so easily, and he knew his brother was perfectly aware of this truth: when phrased properly, a secret told to a navi would only be revealed under extreme circumstances. Hence, even if Roll wanted to talk, there was no way for her to say more than what she had already said. As for Meiru, the only way to get more answers would have been to talk to the twins: something she seemed to refuse herself to do. Indeed, ever since she had greeted them the day they had arrived in the underground base, she had carefully avoided the subject. Either she was with people who couldn't hear anything about it, or she simply left every time the occasion would present itself. Needless to say Netto found it quite irritating, but he couldn't always be on her tail either. 

_ ‘I believe it could be a way of coping with quite shocking news—’ _

_ ‘Cin, no time for this,’ _ Axl cut her before coming back to Saito. _ ‘Roll's still in the computer though, but you should take her somewhere else to talk. She said she would wait for you. You know, with that deadly "I'll delete you if you don't get Saito to come" look.’ _ He stopped for a second, wincing to emphasize his words, before carrying on. _ ‘So go, I'd like to live.’ _

A dozen minutes later, Saito was taking Roll to the bedroom he shared as to be sure no one would interrupt them. The pink navi patiently waited for him to get there inside a PET which wasn't hers, silent. It was so different from hers, she thought; quite empty, even. She wondered if Cinnamon wanted it to look like that, or if it was due to her often spending time in Netto's PET—as it was currently the case. Merely five shortcuts occupied the traditionally green cyberworld, as far as she could see. Besides them: nothing. Perhaps it was due to the fact she was still young, or to the current circumstances, Roll couldn't tell. Herself had accumulated pictures and even a few pieces of furniture—the later were Meiru's idea, however—and she couldn't understand how some navis could go on with empty PETs. 

The door's creaking made her stop her observation, and she quickly appeared outside the PET just in time for the room to reveal itself. Sitting on one of the mattress, a young girl turned over at the sound. Her fine features became tense when she forced a smile, her eyes betraying her. It was late, she didn't know if she would have enough time. However, they would raid SciLab the next day… She might not get another chance. It was now, or never, she thought. She sighed, trying to swallow her nervousness, and eventually talked.

_ ‘I'm ready. I want to hear it all.’ _

She saw surprise painting itself on his face, as Roll gave him a worried glance. Her lips silently articulated what she recognized as "I'm sorry", before she looked back at her operator. And Meiru stared at Saito for a long second, thinking of what to say next. And she eventually found out.

_ ‘I want to to know who you really are.’ _

*****

Dampness. Cold silence. Darkness. 

Behind the closed shutters, the room was plunged into shadows. Not a single sign of life could be seen. Nothing but the ticking of a single clock echoed by the empty walls could be heard. However, hidden in a corner, the cold flashing of a blue light; far from being powerful enough to even lighten what was making it, the small dot of light merely let guess the presence of a computer. A smell, to the point of making one sicks, was floating in the heavy air.

The smell of death.

Standing alone in this desolated apartment, Lumine looked at the device in his hand and sighed: it wouldn't be of any use anymore. In front of him, a silhouette in a chair, wired by all sorts of cables to the sleeping computer. Its decaying face was frozen in a peaceful expression, disgusting Lumine: such an abomination had no right to wear that kind of smile. However, seeing him like this meant the copynavi had lost his advantage on him. His fist clenched, before relaxing again: he couldn't feel this anger, not yet; calm would be needed for what was coming. Without looking back, he turned around and walked to the door he had come from. It was inconvenient, but he would have to make his way back to the head quarters by feet: the mortal taser he had come with wasn't made of data.

It would be riskier, he thought, but they would make it. They had to make it, he had to make sure of it. Even if it meant he had to track Sigma down to the cyberworld to send him to the doors of hell.

*****

Hell… Death wasn't needed for it, and Yuuichiro had figured it out weeks ago. In front of his tired eyes, Sigma was proudly walking around with his new DNA coded frame; a frame he had made. Had he betrayed his family by helping the monster responsible for their deaths? A part of him believed so. However, as he watched him being delighted about his power, another part smiled at the thought of what would happen. Sigma had taken away what he cared the most about, and so would he. Coded deep inside this perfect frame, a short program was written in a confusing way, yet it was still too clear to make it suspicious. Even though Sigma had had it read and reread, none of his minions had noticed those mortal lines. Yuuichiro knew it would take a very specific event to trigger it, but he was faithful. Deep inside, he knew it would happen. How long would it take, however? Would it be soon enough? Had he done right by choosing this event? Doubts remained, but he had to hide them. Sigma couldn't know, he had to believe the broken person he was had given into obeying of his orders. 

Still, Yuuichiro craved for his fall. He wanted to see him proudly wielding the life sword which would take him down. A life sword… There was an amusing irony behind this, to know a life sword would be what would end his life. Or perhaps someone else would use that sword? It didn't matter, the effect would be the same: a single contact with it, and Sigma was done for. 

A startling noise broke the surrounding silence, and he saw the maverick who had taken over his beloved one's appearance show signs of nervosity. He knew it, this one had never seen a battle. He had probably been created from Lumine's data, which were already a modificated version of Axl's program, so he had to be fairly new. It would be an advantage for whoever was coming, to face an inexperienced netnavi. However, he would still be a dangerous opponent, since he seemed to be capable of more than Axl and Lumine. A great threat, but in unknown territory; not even the best programmer would be able to make up for experience through lines of code. A sad smile made its way on Yuuichiro's face as he thought the ones he knew were fighting for their freedom would avenge him and his family, eventually. He looked at the blue maverick—a color he wished he could avoid to see—and watched him as he was trying to figure out what was the best thing for him to do. At some point, a massive netnavi entered the room; one whose red metal-like armor wasn't unknown to him—Violen, the one whom Enzan had faced at the mall. 

_ ‘Jakob! You've got a job to do!’ _ he shouted, before being confronted to his cadet's lack of response. _ ‘Jakob!’ _

So his name was Jakob… Interesting. Such a human name for a netnavi was unusual. After all, the tendency was to give them unique or special name—a lot of them ending by man or woman, since it gave them an air of old school superheroes and could still be changed quite easily. Actually, it made sense when considering Sigma's ideology: why would he give a name following human fashion when he considered them inferior?

_ ‘I know!’ _ The harsh answer made Yuuichiro quiver. He wasn't expecting such a tone to come from Jakob, who had always talked with calm and affectation. 

_ ‘Aw… The rookie's scared of pathetic humans with puppet-navis.’ _ Violen laughed, mocking his cadet.

_ ‘I'm not, Violen.’ _ —Jakob seemed suddenly more intimidating, with this cold tone— _ ‘What are the orders?’ _

_ ‘Take on Sigma's appearance, you'll be the lure.’ _ Violen then paused, designing Yuuichiro. _ ‘I take this one back with the other humans. Always better when you can fry them all at the same time if needed.’ _

His smile, if he could have worn a real one, would have been carnivorous for sure. However, Yuuichiro felt hope in his desolated heart: such a plan meant that the resistance he had heard about was an actual threat to the mavericks. If Enzan and Blues happened to be part of it—and he was sure they were—then they would see the end of the mavericks this night. 

*****

_ ‘We should split here,’ _ a voice whispered.

_ ‘Hush!’ _ —there was movement among the group as someone made their way to the corner of the nearest wall— _ ‘I think I heard something.’ _

The others fell silent, waiting for the aforesaid noise to be heard. A few seconds passed, but nothing came to trouble the quiet atmosphere. The group relaxed a little, but still stayed on guard. A loud voice coming from behind them proved it was the right thing to do, as a dimensional area covered the whole place.

_ ‘That is some good hearing you've got there, human.’ _

Amid this heterogeneous group, one person was more preoccupied by her internal thought than the upcoming fight. Shaking her head, she tried to concentrate, but all it did was moving a lock of bright red hair in her face—which she quickly put back behind her ear. In front of her, a navi had just substantiated. However, there was no response from her group to this threat but a cold silence. And wait.

They knew it was a trap, a way to force them to use one of their only advantages. They were ready for it, they had planned what to do. So they waited, for they knew someone was to come. They waited.

Until a blade came to cut one of the maverick's arms.

_ ‘Eh! Sorry! Got lost on my way!’ _ the operator of the navi who had just attacked with a smile said. _ ‘I take care of this one from now on!’ _

Lumine acknowledged his words, seeing their plan seemed to work out, and urged the group to follow him. It probably wasn't the last trap the mavericks would have set to force them to use their crossfusion ability before they were face to face with Sigma, so they had to keep going without hesitation.

However, Meiru was merely following her team without being with them. If she was physically in SciLab, her mind was still in the room in which she was the previous evening. The words kept playing over and over again, and she couldn't quite comprehend how she hadn't seen it coming. It made so much sense, yet it felt unreal! She could still hear herself ask the fatal question, she could still see Saito's incomprehension to what he thought she had understood when, in reality, she had been denying it all along.

_ ‘I want to to know who you really are.’ _

_ ‘Who I really… am?’ _ He had frowned, not understanding why she would ask such a question: she should have known, there was no way for her not to know. He had looked at Roll, still in her holographic form, begging her to give him an answer, but she had remained silent. _ ‘But Meiru—’ _

Her words had come out with a coldness he probably wasn't prepared for, and Meiru had immediately regretted her tone: it wasn't how she had wanted to say it._ ‘Are you really Saito Hikari? Or are you Rockman?’ _

He had looked at her with his eyes wide opened for a second, before eventually voicing a simple word as an answer. _ ‘And.’ _

_ ‘And?’ _she had repeated with incredulity.

_ ‘I am Rockman,’ _ —he paused, observed her reaction, and then resumed— _ ‘and Saito.’ _

_ ‘But… You got… Rockman got…. deleted,’ _ she had muttered in confusion, unable to tell apart the two because they were one and the same—even though she refused to admit it. ‘ _ Humans can't get deleted…’ _

_ ‘I got…?’ _ He had seemed genuinely surprised, as if not remembering the event—did he? After all, navis couldn't remember their own deletion because their backup program were updated while they were in sleeping mode. Hence, Meiru should have understood it was probably the reason behind Saito's expression. However, in her obsession of invalidating the obvious truth, she had settle for it to be caused by the fact she was talking to Saito, and that he wasn't Rockman in any way. Trying his best to ignore her stare, Saito had done all he could to recall the events of which he couldn't remember more than what Netto and his father had told him. _ ‘Well, you remember the… uhm… spinning symbol? I think that's how Netto described it?’ _ —he had given her a pleading look, hoping she would understand what he had meant— _ ‘You know, the symbol which appeared in your PET and in the ones of the others?’ _

_ ‘After the N1 Grand Prix?’ _

_ ‘Yes, when you all thought I was lost. Dad told you they were just retained data, and I guess they were in some way, but… It was some kind of…’ _ He had searched his words, and now she could understand why. After all, he had noticed she didn't want to believe he was Rockman even though he couldn't tell why. It didn't make sense, since Roll had told him she had asked her if it was possible for him to be Rockman—question to which she had answered the best she could. _ ‘Kind of my... backup program?’ _

_ ‘You don't…’ _ —No, he wasn't Rockman— _ ‘Rockman doesn't have backup files.’ _

_ ‘True,’ _ he said. _ ‘Though, my core program has the ability to split itself between a few devices if my frame gets deleted, so I don't… die.’ _

Meiru could have sworn she had heard him whisper "again" right after, but she hadn't payed attention at the time, just as she wasn't paying attention to the blue blade heading to her.

_ ‘Lumine lied. About you.’ _

It had been said as a statement, and it was one. However, she had later noticed it was also when she had stopped correcting herself to distinguish Rockman from Saito. It was when she had eventually stopped forcing herself to believe they couldn't be one and the same.

_ ‘I swear neither Netto nor I knew he would,’ _ Saito had said hastily as a defense.

_ ‘You let him,’ _ Meiru replied harshly.

_ ‘Maybe because I—’ _ —he had stopped himself, and had looked down— _ ‘It's not really something I like to talk about.’_

A third voice had come in the conversation as Roll had eventually spoken. Meiru hadn't said a thing, letting her say the few words which would lead to an explanation which she still didn't know whether she had truly wanted to hear.

_ ‘Saito. You said you would. You promised.’ _

_ ‘I know, Roll,’ _ he sighed, _ ‘but…’ _

Roll put on a reassuring smile, as she tried her best to help, but Meiru knew her navi well: Saito would have to do it himself anyway. _ ‘I could do it if you ask.’ _

_ ‘You would?’ _

_ ‘Only the beginning.’ _ She had frowned, taking a serious tone. _ ‘You need to do the rest by yourself.’ _ He had winced, showing his unwillingness to tell this story one more time, and she had immediately scolded him for it—with a simple name, which she knew would be enough. _ ‘Rockman!’ _

_ ‘Fine!’ _ he finally said before looking at her. _ ‘Roll, you can tell Meiru as much as you want.’ _

It had been voiced in a way Meiru knew was meant to add an exception to the untold secret he had entrusted Roll with, so the pink navi would eventually be able to talk about it with her operator. Those were the details which would remind her Roll was a program and that, despite having a form of free will, she couldn't truly disobey either. 

She couldn't disobey the straight order of not substantiate under any circumstance which had been given by Meiru under the instructions of Lumine, for she couldn't disobey a human. She couldn't disobey the operator which couldn't hear her screams as a mortal weapon was coming to her, no matter how much she wanted it. 

_ ‘Meiru?’ _ Roll had asked. _ ‘You remember the illness to which Saito miraculously survived until a treatment was found?’ _ Meiru had nodded: how would have she been able to forget? _ ‘He didn't. Or, well, he barely did.’ _

Roll had then stared at Saito, letting him understand it was his story to tell from then on. He had sighed, Meiru was sure of it even though she wasn't looking at the time. However, he had spoken anyway.

With a sadness she hadn't expected.

_ ‘Dad knew I only had a few months left, at most, so he took me to where he worked.’ _

_ ‘SciLab?’ _ Meiru asked, afraid of hearing the rest.

Saito had shaken his head. ‘_ I think it was some lab called Cadmus, but it doesn't really matter.’ _ He had taken a deep breath before continuing, knowing he had reached the sensible point of his story. _ ‘There he… He digitized me. I think that I… that my body died not so long after he was done.’ _

And the explanation she knew he had already given to Enzan had followed. How he had woken up in the cyberworld, without even knowing what had happened. How the years had gone by, with him only being able to see Netto without revealing who he was; years of tests, training, and wait. How the maverick virus had been the trigger to everything. 

No—how an illness had triggered everything.

And how that very illness were one both Netto and he had a genetic predisposition to.

_ ‘And…’ _ Meiru had hesitated: did she really want to know? Was she ready if the truth wasn't what she was hoping it would be? _ ‘Netto? Could it happen to him?’ _

Saito had smiled, but she had been able to tell it was fake. _ ‘There's a cure now. Besides, it's not like if it would go unnoticed with all the checkups.’ _

She was afraid, afraid she would lose her best friend this way. Afraid to see him fall to an insidious threat when he had faced countless external ones. Sure, there was a cure, there were checkups, but… Would it be enough? Or would she have to sit next to him in a hospital from which he wouldn't get out? The thought terrified her. Losing him…

She felt her body being pushed aside violently, her forearm colliding with the floor with pain. She felt a liquid on her cheek, warm and thick. She felt her heartbeat accelerating.

_ ‘Netto!’ _ she yelled.

*****

He had heard Roll's desperate warnings. He had seen the maverick substantiate. He had seen the blade heading to Meiru. He had tried to tell her to move.

She couldn't hear him.

She wasn't there.

And, within the last second left before the blade could touch her skin, he had pushed her out of the way.

Someone had screamed. His name? He couldn't remember. The only sure he was sure of was the pain. A burning pain in his back, where the sword had cut him. When his vision finally return, he saw himself held by the maverick who has attacked.

_ ‘Netto, eh?’— _ he laughed— _ ‘So you survived, little punk. Sigma will be glad to hear this.’ _

He heard someone rush to him, and recognized Saito, but he knew there was little he could do. Netto was the one who had the battle chip gate he could have used to use battle chips without a navi, but even then there would have been high chances it would have touched his brother. All he could do… There was nothing he could do. Yet, he still wanted to fight for his brother, no matter how vain it would be, but he couldn't afford it.

_ ‘Release him! Now!’ _

_ ‘Now, now… Wouldn't that be the twin?’ _ the maverick said with what would have been a smile if he had had the possibility to make one. _ ‘What do you think you can do? Fight me?’ _

Netto saw Axl's silhouette appear near his shoulder, before the copynavi talked. He knew what the navi wanted to do, he could see in his eyes he wanted to keep his brother from actually fighting the maverick when he stood no chance. _ ‘Let me have him, Saito!’ _

Saito seemed to consider the option for a second, hesitating to pronounce the words which would let him disobey Lumine's direct orders. However, it didn't take him long to conclude it was the best thing to do, for helping his brother was more important than any order. _ ‘Okay,’ _ he said. _ ‘You can materialize, Axl.’ _

Immediately, the navi substituted in the air, right above the maverick. He knew what to do, where to aim. This maverick, he had already heard about him—Violen, the one who had attacked the mall: he had caught a glance of what he had done. He was tough and strong, but slow. In other words, he stood no chance against a buster-type, fast and agile. However, despite the twin guns aiming at his crest from above, Violen remained calm and didn't even blink as a shield materialized to stop the lasers.

_ ‘Just as I thought, too pathetic to fight by yourself,’ _ he said, looking at Saito with what Axl assumed to be disdain.

With a twist, he landed on his feet, ready to engage the fight. His guns were ready to shoot, but he needed an opening first. This opening, he would create it.

_ ‘Says the one who just attacked a child!’ _

Contrary to what Axl would have expected, Violen remained unfazed by the comment. _ ‘The age of the opponent doesn't matter in a war.’— _ he snatched and threw Netto's PET away when he noticed he was trying to send a battle chip— _ ‘Child or not, I fight those who oppose me.’ _

_ ‘Great morality, bud,’ _ Axl snarled. _ ‘Now, let Netto go.’ _

_ ‘Let him go?’ _ The maverick paused and seemed to smile, looking at the boy he was handling by the collar. He then looked back at Axl, and initiated a movement of throw. _ ‘Why not?’ _

If it wasn't for the stabbing pain in his back, Netto wouldn't have had a problem landing—crossfusion had taught him one or two things when it came of being thrown around. However, as soon as he started to move to be able to roll, the cut kept him from continuing and caused him to yelp in pain. The floor was getting closer and closer, but he couldn't move.

But the pain from the impact never came.

_ ‘Gotcha!’ _ Axl said with joy as he caught Netto the more delicately he could—which wasn't so delicate, considering the fact that he had caught him mid air.

Immediately, Saito ran to his brother's side as Axl put him down, picking up his PET on his way. _ ‘Netto! You're okay?’ _

Netto took a short time to answer, forcing a smile even though it hurt to move. _ ‘It stings a little bit.’ _

Saito smiled back, but couldn't help the worried look on his face as he was trying not to look at the cut. _ ‘We'll patch you up.’ _

They heard a shot as Axl kept the maverick from attacking them._ ‘Well, you'd better take him somewhere else first,’ _ he said before glaring at Violen. _ ‘I'll take care of that guy by myself.’ _

Before they could argue, Lumine called them. He had to make them hear reason: letting Axl fight was the best thing to do. Besides, there was no way he would risk to lose one of them—actually, the situation was dangerous enough and he was unwilling to put the twins even more at risk: they were far too precious. In times like these, Lumine would have given anything for the twins not to be so willing to save everyone: having to deal with cowards would have been so much easier. Then again, he was lucky enough they existed and had survived his—no, the original Lumine's murder attempts.

_ ‘Let's go!’ _ he called. _ ‘We can't afford to materialize another netnavi yet.’ _

Although they did it reluctantly, the twins still followed the disguised copynavi. The group took the first corridor it saw to get to the stairwell leading to the netnavi research center—closer to where they were almost sure they would find Sigma, and closer to the dimensional area's operating room. Carefully, Lumine opened the door and took a few steps outside the stairwell: after all, the worst which could happen to him was being logged out, instead of death like it was the case for the humans accompanying him.

_ ‘Mad roller!’ _

Thanks to his netnavi's reflexes, Lumine took a step aside right on time to avoid a red blur coming at him at extreme speed. An ambush, he thought, as he saw viruses materialize around. Before he could indicate which netnavis should substantiate, he heard Roll's default attack behind him and turned around to see her defending her operator and the twins from viruses.

_ ‘Gutsman! Magicman! Your turn!’ _ he yelled.

Immediately, they materialized and began to fight with their respective operators' assistances. Lumine hoped they would be enough, since they wouldn't get any help in this part of the building. He wished he could have sent Coloredman and Fireman, but their attacks weren't fit for a space as small as a corridor. He indicated to the ones not fighting to find shelter, hopping the twins would use this time to patch Netto up, while himself tried to send a message to the other teams.

A simple sentence, carefully encrypted.

HEART REACHED

AMBUSH

REINFORCEMENT REQUESTED

But it was never received, for all signals were jammed.


	18. Out of the dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He indicated to the ones not fighting to find shelter, hopping the twins would use this time to patch Netto up, while himself tried to send a message to the other teams.  
A simple sentence, carefully encrypted.
> 
> HEART REACHED  
AMBUSH  
REINFORCEMENT REQUESTED
> 
> But it was never received, for all signals were jammed.

_ ‘Okay, it should be safe here. Come on, sit here. I just need to find scissors.’ _

A voice? A child's voice? This one was familiar… Netto? No, it was impossible. He knew what had happened. Lack of sleep was making him hear things. But, if it wasn't Netto, what would a child do in this part of the building? 

_ ‘Bandages would be nice too.’ _

Was he talking to himself? Wait, the tone was different. It was… tainted with pain. Was there a second person he couldn't hear he was talking to? One hurt? He listened carefully, and discerned two distinct rhythm of footstep. So there were indeed two people...

_ ‘Right,’ _ the voice said, sounding focused. He heard a bag open, and someone seemed to rummage through it. A few second later, he heard the same voice hissing as his owner seemed unsatisfied with the result of what he was doing while the second person laughed softly. ‘ _ It's not like if I'd ever done this before!’ _

_ ‘You did,’ _ was said between a laugh and a moan of pain, but he couldn't tell if it was the same voice this time.

_ ‘We were like four, it doesn't count.’ _ —A metallic object tinkled on the floor— _ ‘And I used leaves!’ _

Something was mumbled, probably along the lines of "don't move". He needed to move, to get closer. He had to see who they were.

He had to see if, somehow, what he had first hoped could be true.

Hence, he dragged himself closer to the door separating him from the room from which the sounds were coming. He heard movements around himself, and felt the heavy looks of the others on him even though the room was plunged into darkness. The others… Right, he wasn't alone. It was easy to forget in this improvised dungeon. He was surprised to be the only one trying to reach the door: had they all given up? Did they think it was a trap? Perhaps it was one. Then again, had he really anything to lose trying? Wasn't it better to die trying to get out than rotting there forever?

A hand applied a weak pressure on his leg as he was moving with difficulty; he knew what it meant: don't. Who it was, he couldn't tell, but he could hear her whisper a single name in warning: Jakob.

Jakob, the shapeshifter, their jailer; the one who could take the appearance of their beloved one to lure them outside the room, for the door had never been locked. They could simply open this wooden plaque, and run to their freedom. They could, but they knew what was to be expected if they did. The memories of the crushed body of one of their comrade was enough to dissuade them. The door might not be locked, but the mavericks were waiting for the ones who would dare to get out. Then again, he could hear the noise of a battle going on not so far from where he was… So, perhaps...

_ ‘Can't always have bandages when you play outside,’ _ the voice said, bringing him back to reality.

There was a moment of silence in which every movement he did could be heard, before the voice answered itself. _ ‘We scared the babysitter.’ _

He was almost there. The faded light from the keypad controlling the door's opening could finally lighten his tired face with its dull light. Now, he was sure of it: even though the voices sounded so similar—or even identical—they were distinct. 

It couldn't be Jakob, or those voices would never talk over each other. It couldn't be Jakob, for if a battle was going on he wouldn't waste his time with them. It couldn't be Jakob, because he needed it not to be Jakob.

_ ‘I know,’ _ he heard, _ ‘it was fun.’ _

His hand reached for the keypad, and the door opened with ease. A blinding light burned his eyes, before two silhouettes distinguished themselves from the white blur. Both turned around when they heard the door, their eyes widen in surprise. He squinted, trying to see, but their faces remained blurry. However, with the voices, he could tell who these brown heads were.

_ ‘Ne…’ _ He coughed, his dry throat hurting after having remained silent for so long. _ ‘Netto? Saito?’ _

_ ‘Mister Meijin?’ _they both exclaimed in unison.

He tried to laugh. _ ‘I told you, that's just Meijin… Works for you too, Saito.’ _

Once the cut had been cleaned and covered with bandages, the twins had put their capes on to hide their identities once again. If they were lucky, Violen wouldn't be able to relay the fact they were alive to the other mavericks. Although Meijin could hardly move, he still helped them reassuring the other employees of SciLab who had been captured. However, after a few minutes, the boys noticed someone wasn't with them.

_ ‘And dad?’ _ Saito asked while Netto kept on looking for him as well as blindly providing battle chips for Axl. _ ‘Is he… here?’ _

Meijin sighed, knowing he had no good news to give. _ ‘Sigma took him away. We…’— _ he looked down— _ ‘Nobody has seen him since the attack’ _

He saw worries turn into sadness, as Netto put his hand on his brother's shoulder in a reassuring sign. However, before he could tell him they would find their father, they heard an explosion and a familiar voice screaming in pain.

_ ‘Roll! _ ’ Saito exclaimed, fear clearly visible in his eyes. _ ‘I need to get back in the—’ _

_ ‘Wait, Saito!’_

Seeing his brother running to where the fight was going on, Netto tried to stop him. However, the aching pain in his back kept his arm from having a grip tight enough to hold him. Before Netto could go, Meijin held him back for a second.

_ ‘The navi… The one who ambushed you.’ _ —he looked at the boy in the eyes, trying to decipher his thoughts though his vision was blurry without glasses— _ ‘If you can avoid it… Please, don't delete him. Don't delete Punk.’ _

Netto nodded, although he didn't know if there would be anything he would be able to do to keep the maverick from being deleted. He nodded, because he knew how much Meijin cared about his navi, even with the virus corrupting him. He nodded, because it wasn't like him to refuse to even try to save someone, navi or human.

As for Roll, the explosion had sent her flying right into the hole in the floor Punk had made. Hole of about two dozens of feet, since they were above the entrance. She had already taken a lot of damage, and she knew the fall would log her out. Meiru had used all the area steal she had, and a single recovery chip wouldn't be enough. However, being logged out now meant Meiru wouldn't be able to crossfuse… Roll tried to reach for the edge of the hole, but the concrete crumbled under her fingers.

Until a pair of hands reached out for hers, holding her wrist tightly so she would fall.

She looked up, knowing such a trembling grip could only come from a human, and was surprised to see a familiar brown haired boy.

_ ‘Sai… Saito?’ _

He tried to smile, even though she could see her weight dragging him down was making it hard to breath for him. In fact, even his own weight wouldn't have been enough to catch his friend, safe for the fact he had gripped one of the legs of a lab bench fixed to the ground with his own legs so he wouldn't be dragged in the hole with her. However, even with all his strength, he couldn't lift her and he didn't know how long it would take for someone to come and help. He turned and tried to find Meiru, but she was nowhere in sight. Hence, he tried once more to lift Roll but was met with predictable failure.

_ ‘I can't pull you up,’ _ he said, sorry, a glint of fear showing in his eyes at the thought of what it implied.

They both could hear Dekao calling for his navi, incapable of knowing whether it was to help them or for another reason. They did hope it was to help them, however. Then, they heard the aforesaid navi running to them. Helping them it was, then.

_ ‘Gutsman will save Roll, de guts!’ _

Saito sighed in relief when he felt Roll being lifted, letting himself breath and get up. He took a second to see if his friend was alright, checking if her data hadn't been too damaged: she seemed okay. Eventually, he smiled to Gutsman, both to thank him and because he was happy to see him after such a long time.

_ ‘Thanks, Gutsman.’ _ Saito said with his usual polite tone, a soft smile on his face.

Ignoring the boy, Gutsman focused on Roll. ‘_ Is Roll safe?’ _ he asked.

_ ‘I am,’ _ she answered, perfectly aware her friend just had completely ignored Saito. _ ‘Thank you Gutsman.’ _

They heard panting, as Dekao and Meiru joined them. They both seemed exhausted and stressed by the battle, constantly looking behind at where the maverick was. So far, Fireman could handle him on his own, but they knew it wouldn't last long.

_ ‘And Netto?’ _ Meiru asked with worry.

Her answer came from a proud Gutsman, who wasn't fully aware of the situation. _ ‘Netto is safe, de guts.’ _

_ ‘Actually…’ _ Saito began. _ ‘I'm not Netto.’ _

Gutsman reaction was one of an immediate confusion, as he could tell the one in front of him looked exactly like Netto—and he wasn't wrong. _ ‘Eh?’ _

Saito bit his lip, thinking of an answer, before deciding to go with whatever the truth would cause. After all, Gutsman would have to learn it at some point, and Netto would surely show up soon enough for him to notice there were two of them. _ ‘It's me, Gutsman,’ _ he said before pointing at himself with a smile which was now nervous. _ ‘It's Rockman.’ _

*****

The room was cold, dark. Yet, the air was dry. One thing was sure: wherever were those "others" supposed to be, he wasn't with them. Violen had taken him somewhere else, somewhere where the resistance would be less likely to find him and where he could break him one last time. However, he could hear them. He could hear the numerous battles raging around him, getting closer and closer with every minutes which passed. Despite the rope ties tying him to his chair, he could wriggle enough to make it fall. It hurt, to hit the hard floor without being able to cushion one's fall; the pain in his shoulder would have to wait. He needed to get to the door, to make his presence noticed.

On the other side, he could hear what he thought to be footsteps. With a grunt of pain, he dragged himself to the metal door and began to repeatedly knock on it. The footsteps stopped. Was it because they had heard him? He hoped so. He knocked once again, but there was no answer. A few seconds passed, before something collided with the metal on the other side. There were voices; an argument, he thought, although he couldn't understand their words. However, the voices faded, and then again something hit the door, forcing the hard metal to fold with a grinding noise. Instinctively, he rolled out of the way. 

A ray of light entered the room by a breach between the wall and the folded metal, unnatural, greenish, before the door was torn away from its original frame. Someone entered, someone he didn't recognize. However, the huge frame following him was one which was more than familiar.

_ ‘Yuuichiro Hikari?’ _

He quivered, for every time he had been called by his name for the past weeks meant nothing good. However, the voice wasn't threatening. It was cold, but not in a way which scared him. Yet, he didn't focus on the one it belonged to. Instead, his eyes fixed the massive frame which apparently had torn the door apart. Colors started to distinguish themselves from the surrounding darkness, revealing shades of red and gold. Yuuichiro smiled: Gutsman. 

_ ‘It's good to see Sigma kept you alive.’ _

It was the voice again. Focused on Gutsman, he had barely seen him get closer. He felt the gag and the ropes fall, freeing his aching body.

_ ‘Thank you…’ _ he said, his voice weak and broken.

The person didn't respond, and instead turned to the door. He seemed hesitant, before finally making a request to whoever was with them.

_ ‘You can let them come in.’ _

Immediately, a couple of heads showed up by the door frame. Before Yuuichiro could even try to guess who were those people, they ran to him. And he understood. 

Who they were…. 

His sons, they were his sons. Alive.

They were alive. 

Tears rolled down his cheeks; relief, joy, hope: a mix of feeling came to replace desperation. His family was alive. It was unbelievable, something he wasn't even waiting for anymore. He hold them as tight as he could, wishing he could keep them like this forever. They were tired, bruised, but they were there and it was all that mattered. He asked them about Haruka: she was waiting too. They asked him about himself: he said it didn't matter. He didn't care how they had survive, he would have all the time to ask about it later. Soon, a pair of navis appeared, sharing the joy to see their creator after such a long time. 

Lumine watched this touching scene from afar; he didn't belong to it. The small family hang tight for a few minutes, before an explosion shook the building. Lumine looked around, trying to figure out whether it was an immediate threat or not. It seemed to be far enough, but it was a reminder they had no time to lose.

_ ‘Hikari, can you stand?’ _

Yuuichiro nodded, before trying to move. He tried to stand, but his legs simply didn't comply with his request. After a few try, a thought made its way in his mind: he had been broken. Physically, emotionally… They had broken him. He gave up; beaten, defeated. 

He had convinced himself it was just an act, that it wasn't real. He hadn't been broken. He couldn't afford being broken. He had only been tricking them, hadn't he? Yes, he had been. However, it didn't mean he wasn't broken. It didn't mean it wasn't the last attempt of a man who thought he had lost it all to take down the one responsible for his misery. Because you keep on fighting doesn't mean your heart hasn't given up: sometimes, it's the last thing your body can hold onto when everything else has been taken. It is the only thing to make up for the emptiness left by what you once had. In this case, fighting isn't a matter of will: it is a whine of despair.


	19. We are History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because you keep on fighting doesn't mean your heart hasn't given up: sometimes, it's the last thing your body can hold onto when everything else has been taken. It is the only thing to make up for the emptiness left by what you once had. In this case, fighting isn't a matter of will: it is a whine of despair.

He walked at a slow pace in the corridor, closely watching his surroundings. They could be anywhere. A single moment of inattention could be his doom. Why had he separated himself from the others? He still wondered. Of course, they had to find this navi before he found them. Yet, he would probably have a whole group following him…

A shadow.

He turned around, ready for a threat, but there was nothing. False alarm, he thought, before getting back to his patrol.

He wouldn't see the end of it.  


Without the slightest satisfaction, Lumine watched the maverick disappear in a shower of pixels. He had aimed to his crest, hoping it would delete him regardless of the fact they were in a dimensional area on which the maverick had total control. He looked around for another sign of presence, but found none: apparently, this one was alone. Lumine let the buster on his hand disappear, recovering the human appearance he had grown used to. Sure, it was quite inconvenient since he had had to modify the data he had copied from Netto and Rockman in order to turn them into the ones he needed. Yet, it was an undeniable advantage over the mavericks to be able to fake a human appearance. However, if the ones he hoped deleted were not, he would be discovered in no time. At least, Sigma thought he had been deleted.

Nevertheless, he was alone. There wasn't anyone he could count on to back him up. It was the best thing to do, he tried to convince himself. If he could find Sigma and lure him outside, it would raise up their chances of taking him down. Besides, time was too precious for him to wait. It was a bold move, to let the team split up in three groups instead of two, yet he was willing to take that risk. Indeed, after they found Yuuichiro Hikari, the scientist had revealed Sigma had forced him to code him a new frame. A DNA coded one, nothing less! Added to what Lumine knew, it meant the mavericks' leader could now enjoy perfect compatibility with his virtual body. Hence, Lumine had decided he would find him and lure him to where they had set a trap for him. After all, only Enzan could use a life sword to make use of the bug Yuuichiro had coded in the frame. Of course, there were the twins too, but he wanted them to remain a last resort. He knew he couldn't avoid making them part of the mission, yet he would still do his best to keep them away from the battle. They were too precious, too unique: there was no way he would risk to lose them. He needed them for what was to come, even if they would be against being used that way. He had already almost lost them multiple times, whether by the original Lumine's hand or by his own lack of precaution—he had to make sure they would make it out alive. Since Axl had been logged out, Sigma was probably aware they were alive, albeit he still thought Rockman had been deleted. Thus, he had to make sure they wouldn't be unnecessarily put at risk.

A dark silhouette distinguished itself from the lightened laboratory's walls, the one of a athletic man in the prime of life. It turned around, slowly, menacingly. And smiled. 

_ ‘You are alone? It is quite a surprise.’ _

Lumine didn't answer, instead he let his frame turn back into what it originally was. Sigma smiled, recognizing the copynavi without his disguise, and drew a sword.

_ ‘Quite surprising, indeed.’ _

The blade came at him with an incredible speed, but Lumine was ready. He didn't jump aside, for he knew Sigma would still get him. Instead, he ran to him, gliding on the floor to stand behind him. However, he wasn't the only one ready. His buster shot, yet the laser never reached Sigma. He thought the sword would be what would come to him next, yet it wasn't. The mini-bombs exploded without hurting him, their smoke blinding him. Lumine took a step back, trying to guess where his opponent was, but was hit by the fire of a shotgun before he could do so. His body was sent flying into the wall, making his hit points drop even quicker. Yet, he stood up almost right away, aiming with his buster—no, it wasn't his: it was the one he had stolen from Rockman. The shot left immediately, touching Sigma near his crest. Lumine hissed, not even an inch further to the left would have made it. However, he used this opening to fire even more, not bothering with targeting any specific part of Sigma's frame. He might not have access to as many battle chips as Sigma, the rockbuster wasn't the worst weapon either, albeit its damages were quite low.

_ ‘You are nothing but a failure, Lumine,’ _ Sigma seemed to snap. _ ‘And you think you can win against me?’ _

A new rush of attacks came from him, chaotic, uncontrolled; Lumine dodged without problem. However, something seemed wrong. Sigma was a remarkable military leader, with precise battle schemes. He didn't need battle chips to be a threat, and was of an incredible power on his own, even without a perfectly compatible frame. The one he was fighting wasn't like this. He was an inexperienced fighter, unused to the heat of battle, and rushing his moves. Despite the blast barely missing him, a smile made its way on Lumine's face.

_ ‘Win against you?’ _ —he laughed— _ ‘What a question!’ _

The impostor snarled, trying to hit him one more time. _ ‘Just stop jumping around!’ _he yelled.

Dodging, Lumine answered with calm. _ ‘I'm not willing to be hit.’ _

_ ‘I am willing to hit you!’ _

The exchange, both of words and hits, went on for a few minutes, before the impostor found himself on the floor. He couldn't risk a move: Lumine had his buster aiming at his crest at gunpoint. 

_ ‘How do you want me to believe you are Sigma when you act like a child?’ _ he asked with a sad expression that the other thought of as disdain instead.

_ ‘It's impossible…’ _ he whispered under his breath. _ ‘I was made to be better… I was made to be better than you…’ _

_ ‘You're wrong, Jakob,’ _ Lumine said, for he perfectly knew who was this navi even though he had only heard of Sigma's intention of making him. _ ‘You should have been made to be better, but you are incomplete. You were supposed to be the perfect copynavi, but they had to make you in a rush. They wanted you to be perfect, but they had to give that up because they needed you to replace me first.’ _

The buster started to charge, a pink light illuminating Jakob's face as he retrieved his real appearance. His face was torn in an expression of pure fear, realizing he didn't want to die. Yet, the small laser went through his crest effortlessly, and his frame disappeared in sparkling pixels. 

Lumine let his hand replace his buster, aware of the presence behind him. He didn't turn around, the reflection in the glass was enough for him to know who it was. Instead, he let his frame turn into his ultimate form. As a helmet came covering his hair, a pair of wing-like appendices emerged from his back, giving him an angelic appearance which contrasted with the demonic one of the one he was about to fight. 

He heard his future opponent draw his sword, smiling as he got ready to fight his own creation.

_ ‘Truly, it is surprising.’ _  


*****  


A body came through the shattering window, crashing on the ground dozens of feet below. Soon, a second one landed nearby, ready to resume the fight. He had the upper hand, yet his opponent proved to be more capable than he had first thought. He had been trying to lure him outside, and here they were. However, he was ready for his trap, and he knew it would be his chance to eliminate some of the major threats in that resistance of his.

_ ‘So Lumine, where are your human fellows?’ _ he said with irony, for he knew they were nearby. _ ‘Shouldn't they come to your rescue?’ _ —he smiled and afford a look to the sky— _ ‘Right, they would need a dimensional area to do so.’ _

As Sigma said those words, the sky turned back to its original light blue color. However, he didn't disappear with the dimensional area: he had made sure his new body would be compatible with the materialization program. He was smiling, the kind of smile which reflected his certainty of winning this war. Yet, it faded away merely a minute after as the familiar rainbow's colors took over the sky anew. It was Lumine's turn to smile, knowing the satellite had been retrieved. He stood up, ready to pursue the fight albeit his frame had already suffered multiple hits. He saw Sigma take a step back, guessing what he would do. 

_ ‘Paradise lost,’ _ Lumine said, pronouncing distinctly those two words he knew Sigma would recognize. 

As Sigma understood his former ally had expected him to walk right in the trap thinking it would only be a frontal assault, the sky darkened. A bubble formed around them, trapping the maverick in a cage he wouldn't be able to get out for a few minutes. Knowing the only way to make Lumine release his attack would be to destroy the dark orb generating it, Sigma let a M-canon replace his hand. The shoot fired, Lumine shielded himself with his wing. The attack was reflected, and Sigma had to jump aside to avoid it. He drew a sword, tried to slash his opponent. He succeeded. Another slash, yet this time it was a failure. A luminous halo had deflected his strike, protecting Lumine's data. He couldn't see who was responsible for this. It didn't matter. Something was coming behind him. He used an area steal to avoid it. His eyes caught a red figure holding a life sword before focusing on Lumine anew. Yet, the next attack didn't come from him as a water tower came to him.

_ ‘Got your back!’ _ a pink navi yelled—no, not a navi: a human.

Sigma snorted; those kids sure were problems. He dismissed the water column with a fire one, buying himself some time to think before the steam cleared. Obviously, he had to take care of two crossfused operators as well as Lumine by himself in a limited space: a tough situation, even for someone as experimented as him. He stood no chance in a head-on fight without allies, and that was what Lumine was counting on. Hence, there would be no head-on fight. Taking advantage of the steam still hiding him, he talked.

_ ‘I guess that's it… You think you've won, don't you? Yet… A bitter victory it is.’ _ He looked around for one precise child, not seeing him. He smiled anyway: he knew he would be heard. _ ‘Am I not right, Netto? So, what are you going to do without your precious DNA coded Rockman? There's no playing hero for you this time, is there?’ _

Using another area steal, Sigma distanced himself from his opponents without interrupting his speech. From the roof where they could see it all, Netto and Saito listened in silence. They knew they had to remain quiet, even it it killed them inside not to be able to fight themselves. Sigma was mocking them, calling what they had done so far playing. As if it was a game! Netto's fist clenched as he tried not to blow their location by bottling up. It was what Sigma wanted, he was no fool this time. He had learned from those other times when he had "played the hero", and this time there was too much to lose for him to fool around.

_ ‘You can answer me, I know you're here after all!’ _ The voice made him want to get down to beat him up, but still he refrained. _ ‘I hoped you would come: that's why your father was still alive. I wanted him to see my victory. And it's all thanks to this new frame he made for me, in the same way he had made Rockman.’ _

Enough! He could hear this word being hissed next to him, barely audible. For a second, he thought Saito would be the one giving away their position before Cinnamon appeared as an hologram to keep it from happening. A smile formed on Netto's face as he leaned closer to whisper something to her. She frowned, reluctant to comply by the request. Yet, when she heard the battle raging on below, she gave in with a sigh.

Her frame materialized mid-air, as far as the PET's laser could send her, going through the dark bubble made by Lumine as if it wasn't even there. Cinnamon landed a few feet away from the fight, immediately drawing everyone's attention to herself. Her usual soft expression had left place to a frown of pure determination, one reflecting the one of those for whom she was conveying a message.

_ ‘I have a message,’ _ she said. _ ‘We are not playing. And we—’ _

_ ‘Cinnamon!’ _ Lumine yelled while running to Sigma who was aiming at her. _ ‘Go back with the twins!’ _

Had the words barely left his mouth Sigma turned around to counter him. Time slowed down dramatically as the sword cut through the air. Distracted by the nurse navi, Lumine was taken by the surprise. The sharp blade cut through his data as if it was nothing but butter, thrusting into where his crest would have been. Cinnamon looked with horror, her stoic expression turning into one of shock and fear. She didn't want this! She wanted to give them a chance by distracting Sigma, not this! It wasn't what should have happened! 

_ ‘Go!’ _

She looked at Enzan with widened eyes, unable to unsee Lumine's body being shattered in billions of pixels. She saw fear on Enzan's face when he realized he couldn't maintain his life sword anymore. She knew what it meant for them, she knew they were about to fail. She stayed immobile, paralyzed, as Sigma came to her with his unsheathed sword. She barely heard Enzan call for the trio of battle chips for another life sword. All she knew was that, even though Meiru took her away in time for her not to be hit, Enzan couldn't touch Sigma. 

They couldn't win.

They would die.

A familiar alert took her out of her catatonic attitude, a tingling noise in her head which triggered one of the immediate responses coded inside of her. She felt the need to go back to her PET. Her body disappeared as she opened her eyes in the small device only to be blinded by light. Before she could even materialize anew, a voice yelled; determined, angry, familiar.

_ ‘And we are not giving up!’ _

Sigma wasn't prepared for this. It shouldn't even have been possible, yet he couldn't deny it was happening. A blue strike, falling from the top of one of the four towers surrounding him. It was too late for him to move, to avoid the incoming hit. And he understood what his mistake had been: he had thought Rockman was more of a threat than his operator because humans were frail. Yes, they were frail, indeed… However, they were the same creatures who decided they should rather adapt nature to them that adapt to nature. They had the inherent ability to bend the events by their rules, to force things into such a shape they would always have an advantage over them. And he had fallen for this.

He had been taken into a fight in a world he was naturally disadvantaged in. He had let the humans use crossfusion against him believing they wouldn't have been capable of retrieving the satellite. Without even noticing, he had played by their rules for he thought children couldn't be a threat. And, as the deadly sword came to him, he understood. 

He understood why professor Hikari had seemed so relieved when he had assumed Rockman simply was the result of the navi project. He understood why Netto hadn't been downcast once he had woken up to see his netnavi was gone forever. He understood why Saito was so aware of what was going on even though he wasn't supposedly around when it all started. 

He understood why Lumine had risked everything to protect them.

And he smiled. 

He smiled, and close his eyes as his crest broke.

He let death come and take him, for he couldn't avoid it anyway. 

However, before his body shattered, a single word slipped through his lips.

_ ‘Eh… Twins.’ _

There was a moment of silence, a moment of wonder. Had they won? Was it real? Netto looked around, searching for his friends even though he couldn't tell whether this worry inside of him was his or the one of his brother. Slowly, as their level of synchronization went down, this double perception faded. The rumbling of the fight let place to a heavy silence.

What should they do now? 

A question was whispered, as if Sigma would come back hearing it. Yet, Netto was the only one whom Saito's voice could reach.

_ ‘We… did it?’ _

Netto smiled, relieved, and let the life sword disappear. 

_ ‘We did it,’ _ he said.

They saw the sky turn blue once more as Lumine's bubble disappeared with the dimensional area. Meiru ran to them—to him—her usual clothes replacing her leotard, and grabbed him in a hug. She was smiling, relieved too. Netto hugged her back, watched by his brother from the PET. They laughed, enjoying the fact they were both alive. Enzan joined them, his hand trying to stop the bleeding of one of the wound he had received from Sigma, as Saito disappeared from the PET. They were wounded, exhausted, but they were alive: it was all that mattered. 

Around them, the resistance started to gather. Carefully, they came out of the buildings, helping their wounded ones and counting their losses. The hostages soon followed, escorted to a freedom they couldn't yet believe. There were joy and sadness, reunions and mourning. 

A discreet tinkling, and a hologram flickered in the air. Axl looked around, a little dazed, incapable of telling what was going on. The restoration had erased the damages his data had suffered, but it had left him completely unaware of what had happened after his encounter with Violen. His eyes scanned for hints of the last events, widening when they met the familiar faces of some scientists. He looked at Meiru, then at Enzan: he could tell they had fought. He couldn't smell blood, but he could see the stains on their clothes and the cuts of a red still bright. He could see some people he had gotten to know over the past months were not there, and he knew it was because they hadn't made it out. 

_ ‘It's over?’ _ he asked, an underlying pain in his words. _ ‘We won?’ _

Instinctively, he turned to Netto for the answer, but stopped when he noticed someone was missing in the picture. His eyes quickly scanned the crowd anew, but they didn't encounter the familiar face he wanted to find. He didn't listen to the answer to his question, he was too stressed to even hear it. 

_ ‘Netto! You're okay!’ _

Axl was pushed back by the embrace although he wasn't tangible. When he finally got to see who was responsible for it, a sad smile made its way on his face. Yuuichiro held his son tight, relishing this reunion he had waited for too long. Then, the copynavi heard a familiar voice and noticed a smaller figure standing near them. And, as Cinnamon kept on repeating she would never do that again, Axl eventually truly smiled.

_ ‘You're okay too…’ _

They were okay, alive, albeit wounded, and it was an outcome Axl had feared would not be the one they would get. It was over, and they were all there to celebrate it. His smile fainted—no, they weren't.

_ ‘And Lumine?’ _ he asked.

There was no answer. It wasn't needed. They all knew. Almost everyone was outside, and some of the non-fighters were joining too. Those who weren't there… Those ones they would never see again. Axl forced a smile anew, sad from their bitter victory.

_ ‘Well…’ _ he sighed. _ ‘I guess I should've known.’ _

_ ‘He was right.’ _

Axl stood alert, surprised, before noticing Saito had spoken. _ ‘Lumine?’ _he asked although he knew it could only be him.

_ ‘Yeah.’ _ —Saito looked down at his PET— _ ‘Things can't stay like that. If they do, things like that will keep on happening over and over again, and…’ _ He paused, biting his lip as he thought of what to say. _ ‘And it will get worse. What if people start to fear navis because of this?’ _

Axl didn't know what to answer, for he had to admit it was possible. The copynavi looked away, hoping he would find an answer in the ones surrounding him. He found none. On Saito's shoulder, Cinnamon softly smiled and talked.

_ ‘Some people have and always will fear navis, Saito. And there will always be people like Sigma who thinks one is better than the other, but it doesn't mean we'll have to go through this another time. People learn from their mistakes, they learn how not to repeat them.’ _ The young nurse navi took a second to look around, her gaze skimming through the crowd around. _ ‘It will take time, but I know humans' attitude towards us will change for the best.’ _

Saito felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Netto._ ‘And we'll make it change,’ _he said with a confident smile.

Yes, they would make it change. They would teach their elders to see netnavis as people instead of programs. They would support their virtual friends when people would try to prove them wrong. They would be there, standing for a cause which they knew was right. They would do what they had to do, for they knew it was their most important fight.

Words would be their weapons, for busters wouldn't make them heard. Old beliefs would be their enemies, for no unique living being could be blame for their system. Their voice would be the tool to convey their ideas, but never should it overcome the one of those they were fighting for. It would be their fight, for they would make it theirs, but they would never be the ones for whom this fight was.

Netnavis and humans were and would always be different, but they were also the same. Both deserved recognition. Both deserved respect. Both deserved rights.

Both had to fight for them.

Some will say history always repeats itself. Some will say greed is all humans know. Some will never acknowledge the pedestal they have built under their own feet. Some will always disagree, but it doesn't mean nothing is worth fighting for. Time will take its course, but it will need help to start on. There will always be discords, wars, and inequalities. There will always be greed. There will always be people to believe they are better than the others. Those won't ever disappear, but those should not keep the fight from being led. Step by step, as small as those steps might be, things will get better as long as there is hope.

As long as there is hope, the fight will go on.


	20. Epilogue

Pink petals flew as rivers on the sidewalk, carried by the cool spring breeze. They fell from the trees as snow, covering cars with pastel coats. Sun rays illuminated the blooming nature of this town which was trying to erase the scars left by Sigma.

In a garden, a girl was watering tulips. She was humming a melody as she bathed in the sunlight, delighted to feel the warmth on the skin her red sundress wasn't covering. Her face broke into a soft smile when she noticed a butterfly flying by. She felt alive, in a way she had never felt before. Her long blond hair tied back in a ponytail revealed two cylindrical forms in place of her ears, each of them bearing a symbol similar to a heart.

In the very same garden, another girl was filling her watering can. She pushed a strand of her red hair behind her ear, revealing two earpieces bearing a heart-shaped symbol—the very same heart-shape symbol. She joined her friend, taking care of another flower bed. They laughed together, chatting as any girls would, for to one's eyes they were any girls. 

A women came out of the house, her hair of the same scarlet red as her daughter outside. She smiled at the scene, before calling out for the two girls.

_ ‘Meiru! Roll! It's time to go!’ _

The two girls looked at each other, before nodding to Aria and responding in unison.

_ ‘We're coming!’ _

They put down their watering cans, washing their hands using the outdoor faucet. The water they used glided over some glass shards barely covered by dirt, remains of the windows which had exploded on that fatal night. The house had been fixed, the wounds healed. However, like the wounds of the body, the wounds of the heart leave scars. They looked the same, but what they had lived through, this hell which had been their lives for a few months… It had changed them. Forever.

They joined Aria inside, taking the pies they had baked together from the fridge. On the TV, the news were all about the trial which was to come. It was the first of its kind, the first one involving navis' rights since they had finally been created. A new page had been turn, one where navis and humans were considered almost equal. And, who knew? Maybe one day even this almost would disappear? On this day of April, only Japan had implemented those rights, but they would be the pioneers of a worldwide revolution. 

_ ‘Roll, do you need a spare battery?’ _ Aria asked.

Roll shook her head. _ ‘I had time to recharge outside.’ _ She then looked at Meiru, who was holding the second cherry pie. _ ‘You think it'll be enough?’ _

Meiru smiled, giggling. _ ‘As long as we don't let Netto approach them!’ _  


Haruka left the kitchen when she heard the doorbell, leaving her sons alone. She opened the door with a smile, letting her neighbors in. Meiru and Roll were surprised not to see either of the twins with her, but understood when they heard their voices coming from what they thought to be the kitchen.

_ ‘The recipe says to cut it in slices.’ _

_ ‘Large slices?’ _ A pause could be heard, and maybe Netto—for they knew it was him who had talked—nodded, before Saito noticed something was off. _ ‘Wait, shouldn't Axl be the one reading the recipe?’ _

_ ‘He said it was boring and left,’ _ Netto answered with nonchalance. 

The voices went quiet for a few seconds, as Meiru and Roll walked to the kitchen. From the door frame, they saw Netto's hand slowly reaching out for a slice of tuna. Meiru put her finger in front of her mouth, signing to Roll to remain silent. They saw Saito's movement slowing down as he noticed what his brother was attempting to do.

_ ‘Netto?’ _ he said as a warning.

_ ‘What?’ _

It had been said with an innocent tone, the one Netto always used when he knew he had been caught. Saito was no fool, and he perfectly knew his brother had understood what he hadn't voiced. However, he also knew he would keep on trying without a proper warning.

_ ‘Hands off.’ _

The twins heard giggling behind them, and turned around at the sound to see Meiru and Roll holding two cherry pies.

_ ‘At least now you can keep him from eating the ingredients,’ _ Roll said with a smile.

_ ‘Roll?’ _

The look of surprise on Saito's face was one of the more genuine, for even though Roll had been using her copyroid for a month he still wasn't used to see her out of the cyberworld. She looked so real, so... human. If it wasn't for the Sakurai symbol in place of her ears, it would have been hard to tell she wasn't indeed human.

_ ‘Hi,’ _ she said, waving her hand a little as not to drop the plate she was hiding.

Saito put the knife on the cutting board, ready to help her before remembering it might not be such a good idea after having cut tuna right before. He stood there for a second, thinking of what to do while Netto was looking at him with a mocking grin, before finally using the sink. Both he and Roll then tried to find some place in the fridge, starting to completely reorganize it when Meiru gave them the second pie which made them realize there was no way they would be able to put it in there without using some major tetris skills.

Amused but knowing she wouldn't be of any help, Meiru joined Netto.

_ ‘Want some help?’ _ she asked.

He smiled, handling her his PET without hesitation. _ ‘Someone with clean hand to use the PET?’ _ —he winced, shaking his hands— _ ‘I have to wash them every two minutes.’ _

As he took on the tuna Saito had been cutting when Roll and she had come in, she asked him a question in the form of a simple name—which, much to his displeasure, interrupted his tentative to eat the slice he had just cut.

_ ‘Dekao?’ _

His smile faded, as he looked down and cut silently another slice. _ ‘He has to work. It's much harder to keep the restaurant going without Hinoken.’ _

Meiru didn't say anything. She knew. They all knew. 

Even though almost a year had passed, the pain wasn't gone. They had won, but it wasn't without some sacrifices. She looked by the window, seeing a little girl walking down the street with another who seemed to be her sister. Then, she noticed the symbols she had instead of ears. Copyroids were produced once again, even though human-like ones were still uncommon. Navis had earned their rights, even the one to live by themselves. A lot had been done for them, to prevent another war like the one they had had to fight.

Yes, a lot had been done, but a lot was left to do as well. Meiru smiled when she saw the little girl take a handful of petals to put it in her hair, laughing with the navi accompanying her. Yes, this fight was not over, but it wasn't a war. They had time to make things change, to make sure to do it right. They had time, and they would use it so there would never be another tragedy like the one of the mavericks. They would make sure all those who had lost their lives back then wouldn't have fought in vain.

Pink petals flew as rivers on the sidewalk, carried by the cool spring breeze. They fell from the trees as snow, covering cars with pastel coats. Sun rays illuminated the blooming nature of this town which was trying to erase the scars left by Sigma. In vain. For those scars were engraved in the depths of everyone's hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of the end ! A small conclusion to this adventure :)  
I wanted an ending which made sense, something more than just "they won and the bad guys lost, everyone is happy" because that's not how things work. You don't get a true happy ending after a war, you just can't. You can only get the best outcome and try to make sure it won't happen again. That's why you have to make things change, to help the one you defeated for they will only build hatred and resentment toward you if you use your quality of winner to put them down even more (WWI anyone?).

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to those who read up till here, and I hope you had a good time despite the more than average quality of my writing.
> 
> See you for another fic (maybe ;p )!  
(I have an OS on the hands, but I also want to start a fiction [not fanfiction] with my own characters so it's gonna take some time too...)


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